The 10 Dumbest Places In New York For 2024


The dumbest places in New York are New Square and Kiryas Joel for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Empire State have a larger percent of their population that never graduated from high school.

While the emphasis on going to college might be overblown, the fact is that not graduating from high school puts you at a significant disadvantage on average. Educational attainment might not be the best way to measure one person’s intelligence, but it does shine a light on the state.

We will use Saturday Night Science to determine what places in New York have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.

A recent study we published found that New York is the 36th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 98.

But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in New York are a bit slower than others due to a lack of basic education.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


Dumbest Cities In New York Map

Don’t freak out.

Some places are just smarter than others, but that says nothing about the character of the people living there. It’s another data point a real estate agent would never tell you.

For this ranking, we only looked at cities with populations greater than 5,000, leaving us 165 cities in New York to rank. You can take a look at the data below.

For more New York reading, check out:

The 10 Dumbest Places In New York For 2024

New Square, NY

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 9,578
% Adult High School Dropout: 25.0%
% Highly Educated: 2.0%
More on New Square: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Kiryas Joel, NY

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 34,368
% Adult High School Dropout: 26.0%
% Highly Educated: 7.0%
More on Kiryas Joel: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Monticello, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Americasroof | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Population: 7,224
% Adult High School Dropout: 30.0%
% Highly Educated: 17.0%
More on Monticello: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

4. Liberty

Liberty, NY

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 5,030
% Adult High School Dropout: 18.0%
% Highly Educated: 13.0%
More on Liberty: Crime | Real Estate

Hempstead, NY

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Population: 58,557
% Adult High School Dropout: 26.0%
% Highly Educated: 17.0%
More on Hempstead: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 5,501
% Adult High School Dropout: 16.0%
% Highly Educated: 5.0%
More on Kaser: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Spring Valley, NY

Source: Wikipedia User Daniel Case | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Population: 32,963
% Adult High School Dropout: 23.0%
% Highly Educated: 18.0%
More on Spring Valley: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Albion, NY

Source: Flickr User Gary Brownell | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 5,428
% Adult High School Dropout: 16.0%
% Highly Educated: 8.0%
More on Albion: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Elmira, NY

Source: Wikipedia User | CC BY-SA 1.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 26,494
% Adult High School Dropout: 18.0%
% Highly Educated: 17.0%
More on Elmira: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Ogdensburg, NY

Source: Wikipedia User P199 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 9,902
% Adult High School Dropout: 17.0%
% Highly Educated: 16.0%
More on Ogdensburg: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Empire State

We realize that formal education is only part of it when it comes to being intelligent, but on the other hand, knowing the difference between they’re, their, and there is always going to make you look pretty stupid.

So, we used Saturday Night Science to narrow down our criteria to focus on a city’s educational opportunities and what percentage of the population takes advantage of those opportunities.

In short, we came up with these criteria to determine the dumbest cities in New York:

  • % of the city’s population with less than a high school education (Age 25+)
  • % of city’s population with a college degree (Age 25+)

We got the data from the U.S. Census 2018-2022 American Community Survey.

Then, our algorithm generates a rank for each place in these categories. After crunching all the numbers, a ranking of the cities in New York from dumbest to brightest.

For this ranking, we used every New York city with at least 5,000 residents. We updated this article for 2024, and it’s our tenth time ranking the dumbest cities in New York.

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

If you’re measuring the locations in New York where there are a high number of dropouts and adults who never received a formal education, this is an accurate ranking.

The dumbest cities in New York are New Square, Kiryas Joel, Monticello, Liberty, Hempstead, Kaser, Spring Valley, Albion, Elmira, and Ogdensburg.

If you’re also curious enough, here are the smartest places in New York, according to science:

  1. Larchmont
  2. Irvington
  3. Rye

For more New York reading, check out:

Dumbest Cities In New York For 2024

Rank City Population % Adult High School Dropout % Highly Educated
1 New Square, NY 9,578 25.0% 2.0%
2 Kiryas Joel, NY 34,368 26.0% 7.0%
3 Monticello, NY 7,224 30.0% 17.0%
4 Liberty, NY 5,030 18.0% 13.0%
5 Hempstead, NY 58,557 26.0% 17.0%
6 Kaser, NY 5,501 16.0% 5.0%
7 Spring Valley, NY 32,963 23.0% 18.0%
8 Albion, NY 5,428 16.0% 8.0%
9 Elmira, NY 26,494 18.0% 17.0%
10 Ogdensburg, NY 9,902 17.0% 16.0%
11 Gloversville, NY 15,113 16.0% 15.0%
12 Newburgh, NY 28,751 20.0% 19.0%
13 Fulton, NY 11,381 15.0% 15.0%
14 Utica, NY 64,728 20.0% 20.0%
15 Salamanca, NY 5,906 14.0% 14.0%
16 Wappingers Falls, NY 5,775 17.0% 20.0%
17 Port Jervis, NY 8,725 14.0% 15.0%
18 Newark, NY 9,076 15.0% 18.0%
19 Middletown, NY 30,169 16.0% 20.0%
20 Haverstraw, NY 12,286 21.0% 25.0%
21 Lackawanna, NY 19,762 14.0% 19.0%
22 Schenectady, NY 68,476 15.0% 22.0%
23 Auburn, NY 26,674 14.0% 20.0%
24 Freeport, NY 44,210 17.0% 26.0%
25 Bath, NY 5,606 13.0% 18.0%
26 Rome, NY 32,031 14.0% 21.0%
27 Medina, NY 5,827 15.0% 24.0%
28 Jamestown, NY 28,679 14.0% 21.0%
29 Niagara Falls, NY 48,502 14.0% 21.0%
30 Endicott, NY 13,540 13.0% 19.0%
31 Amsterdam, NY 18,244 13.0% 19.0%
32 Hornell, NY 8,208 11.0% 15.0%
33 Dunkirk, NY 12,668 12.0% 17.0%
34 Port Chester, NY 31,288 21.0% 34.0%
35 Penn Yan, NY 5,134 13.0% 23.0%
36 Rochester, NY 210,992 16.0% 30.0%
37 Watervliet, NY 10,325 11.0% 18.0%
38 Mount Vernon, NY 72,817 17.0% 33.0%
39 Sleepy Hollow, NY 10,396 28.0% 39.0%
40 Herkimer, NY 6,858 11.0% 19.0%
41 Syracuse, NY 146,134 15.0% 30.0%
42 Solvay, NY 6,607 13.0% 26.0%
43 West Haverstraw, NY 10,649 12.0% 24.0%
44 Yonkers, NY 209,780 16.0% 36.0%
45 New York, NY 8,622,467 18.0% 40.0%
46 Buffalo, NY 276,688 14.0% 30.0%
47 Kingston, NY 24,018 13.0% 28.0%
48 Oneida, NY 10,326 11.0% 24.0%
49 Massena, NY 10,218 12.0% 26.0%
50 Olean, NY 13,890 12.0% 26.0%
51 Airmont, NY 10,020 15.0% 36.0%
52 Ossining, NY 27,076 17.0% 40.0%
53 Hudson Falls, NY 7,426 7.0% 15.0%
54 Hudson, NY 5,923 14.0% 34.0%
55 Watertown, NY 24,859 10.0% 25.0%
56 Glens Falls, NY 14,743 12.0% 30.0%
57 Glen Cove, NY 28,132 16.0% 41.0%
58 Norwich, NY 6,950 10.0% 24.0%
59 Troy, NY 51,268 13.0% 33.0%
60 Binghamton, NY 47,617 13.0% 32.0%
61 Lockport, NY 20,808 10.0% 25.0%
62 Malone, NY 5,507 10.0% 26.0%
63 Walden, NY 6,861 10.0% 26.0%
64 Batavia, NY 15,510 8.0% 23.0%
65 Peekskill, NY 25,401 13.0% 37.0%
66 Cortland, NY 17,574 10.0% 27.0%
67 Poughkeepsie, NY 31,717 11.0% 32.0%
68 Geneva, NY 12,670 12.0% 34.0%
69 Cohoes, NY 17,960 10.0% 27.0%
70 Washingtonville, NY 5,733 11.0% 33.0%
71 Rensselaer, NY 9,252 10.0% 28.0%
72 Elmsford, NY 5,192 13.0% 39.0%
73 Patchogue, NY 12,343 12.0% 37.0%
74 Monroe, NY 9,420 13.0% 40.0%
75 Depew, NY 15,141 7.0% 21.0%
76 Johnstown, NY 8,216 8.0% 26.0%
77 Mechanicville, NY 5,177 6.0% 21.0%
78 Valley Stream, NY 40,288 12.0% 39.0%
79 New Rochelle, NY 80,828 14.0% 47.0%
80 Oswego, NY 17,092 8.0% 28.0%
81 Ilion, NY 7,703 7.0% 26.0%
82 North Syracuse, NY 6,669 6.0% 24.0%
83 Westbury, NY 15,788 13.0% 47.0%
84 Brockport, NY 7,192 8.0% 32.0%
85 Mount Kisco, NY 10,835 14.0% 52.0%
86 Lindenhurst, NY 27,139 7.0% 30.0%
87 Lancaster, NY 10,160 6.0% 26.0%
88 East Rochester, NY 6,321 8.0% 32.0%
89 Potsdam, NY 8,570 11.0% 44.0%
90 Saranac Lake, NY 5,079 9.0% 39.0%
91 Canandaigua, NY 10,562 9.0% 39.0%
92 Albany, NY 99,692 11.0% 43.0%
93 Horseheads, NY 6,524 5.0% 26.0%
94 Colonie, NY 7,767 8.0% 35.0%
95 Goshen, NY 5,736 8.0% 39.0%
96 North Tonawanda, NY 30,479 5.0% 28.0%
97 Webster, NY 5,725 8.0% 40.0%
98 Chestnut Ridge, NY 10,339 8.0% 40.0%
99 Plattsburgh, NY 19,907 8.0% 40.0%
100 Mamaroneck, NY 19,930 12.0% 53.0%
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

6 thoughts on “The 10 Dumbest Places In New York For 2024

  1. Your information is completely wrong. Albion’s graduation rate is 87%, while our nation’s graduation rate is 82%. Just alone New York’s average graduation rate is 76.8%, quite a bit lower than little old Albion’s percentages.

  2. Gloversville is my hometown and it is upsetting to read these statistics and call G’ville “a dumb city “. I read the entire list ranking various cities, it may leave people with thoughts of what can we do
    #1 parents and teachers and administrators all do their jobs Make the child go to school, pass and graduate. Parents need lessons on “parenting”.
    #2 ever citizen should take pride of their town and show it by taking care of property weather you own it or renting it. #3volunteer in your community. Help is always appreciated and needed.
    #4. Businesses could band together and plant flowers on downtown Main Street. I am sure the city has various ideas to help . I know of one helping hand……. the library needs extensive repairs. And one person or a few started and idea and the snow ball went downhill accumulating donations from all graduates of Gloversville High School, if you graduated say 1938 you sent a check for $38.00. I am a graduate from 1962 I sent a check for $62.00. This has become a contest as what glass will give the most money.
    Maybe all the people who moved away could donate to “Help my Hometown”
    I have babbled enough.

  3. Thanks for putting this together.There’s an error on #4. You mention Albion but you’re referring to Amsterdam. It’s interesting, although you’re right, an education is important but can be achieved outside of school, it’s rare that there are so many self driven people in one town, especially when they weren’t driven enough to complete their school education, even through homeschooling, and to graduate. Still, I can’t help but notice the highest graduation rates come from,the wealthiest cities.

  4. This is far from scientific.f. First, you didn’t measure intelligence, so you can’t rank “dumb”. Second, it doesn’t appear that you weighted demographics, or SES factors that would allow you to compare apples to apples. Why’s that important? Well the older generations often didn’t finish high school or continue to higher education. Immigrants are likely not going to have attended higher education, high concentrations of blue collar jobs do not require folks to have higher educations to be successful. Those who fit those jobs settle in those areas. In other words, if you look at a rich, relatively young, established town and they have a high drop out rate, that’s a problem. If you have a town full of elderly, ESL, blue collar folks, the lower education rate is not a problem, and could actually be a trend towards higher education levels. Next time, be scientific. Give your work a representative title, and discuss your work’s short comings and lack of generalizability. Whatever your goal was, you made a lot of kids feel badly about themselves.

  5. I find this article to be most insulting, unscientific, and judgmental.
    Why don’t you look into some of the reasons why some residents of these cities or towns are not educated so well? Does everyone have to be as “rich” as residents of Bronxville or Scarsdale to be “Smart?”
    This is a bigoted article, and please remove me from receiving any more of your insulting blogs.
    Many of the towns you mentioned have high-achieving students, despite low economic standing.
    As an educator and mother, I find this attitude intolerable!

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