The 10 Dumbest Places In Washington For 2024


The dumbest places in Washington are Toppenish and Grandview for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Evergreen 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 Washington have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.

A recent study we published found that Washington is the 7th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 101.

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


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


Dumbest Cities In Washington 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 121 cities in Washington to rank. You can take a look at the data below.

For more Washington reading, check out:

The 10 Dumbest Places In Washington For 2024

Toppenish, WA

Source: Wikipedia User Jared DeJong | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 8,820
% Adult High School Dropout: 47.0%
% Highly Educated: 8.0%
More on Toppenish: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Grandview, WA

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

5
/10
Population: 10,922
% Adult High School Dropout: 36.0%
% Highly Educated: 5.0%
More on Grandview: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Union Gap, WA

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

3
/10
Population: 6,512
% Adult High School Dropout: 32.0%
% Highly Educated: 6.0%
More on Union Gap: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Sunnyside, WA

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

4
/10
Population: 16,329
% Adult High School Dropout: 46.0%
% Highly Educated: 9.0%
More on Sunnyside: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

5. Connell

Connell Location In Washington

Connell, WA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Population: 5,175
% Adult High School Dropout: 30.0%
% Highly Educated: 10.0%
More on Connell: Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Othello, WA

Source: Wikipedia User afiler | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 8,582
% Adult High School Dropout: 27.0%
% Highly Educated: 12.0%
More on Othello: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Quincy, WA

Source: Wikipedia User Todd Petit from East Wenatchee, WA, USA | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Population: 7,754
% Adult High School Dropout: 30.0%
% Highly Educated: 18.0%
More on Quincy: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

East Wenatchee, WA

Source: Wikipedia User planephotoman | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10
Population: 14,065
% Adult High School Dropout: 17.0%
% Highly Educated: 18.0%
More on East Wenatchee: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Aberdeen, WA

Source: Wikipedia User Kéiryn | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 16,969
% Adult High School Dropout: 15.0%
% Highly Educated: 16.0%
More on Aberdeen: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Yakima, WA

Source: Wikipedia User 0Core0 | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 96,764
% Adult High School Dropout: 23.0%
% Highly Educated: 19.0%
More on Yakima: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Evergreen 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 Washington:

  • % 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 Washington from dumbest to brightest.

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

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

If you’re measuring the locations in Washington 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 Washington are Toppenish, Grandview, Union Gap, Sunnyside, Connell, Othello, Quincy, East Wenatchee, Aberdeen, and Yakima.

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

  1. Bainbridge Island
  2. Redmond
  3. Mercer Island

For more Washington reading, check out:

Dumbest Cities In Washington For 2024

Rank City Population % Adult High School Dropout % Highly Educated
1 Toppenish, WA 8,820 47.0% 8.0%
2 Grandview, WA 10,922 36.0% 5.0%
3 Union Gap, WA 6,512 32.0% 6.0%
4 Sunnyside, WA 16,329 46.0% 9.0%
5 Connell, WA 5,175 30.0% 10.0%
6 Othello, WA 8,582 27.0% 12.0%
7 Quincy, WA 7,754 30.0% 18.0%
8 East Wenatchee, WA 14,065 17.0% 18.0%
9 Aberdeen, WA 16,969 15.0% 16.0%
10 Yakima, WA 96,764 23.0% 19.0%
11 Kelso, WA 12,661 13.0% 12.0%
12 Centralia, WA 18,234 15.0% 17.0%
13 Pasco, WA 77,274 24.0% 20.0%
14 Shelton, WA 10,484 16.0% 19.0%
15 Sedro-Woolley, WA 12,470 12.0% 16.0%
16 Ephrata, WA 8,419 11.0% 14.0%
17 Woodland, WA 6,463 13.0% 19.0%
18 Longview, WA 37,722 11.0% 16.0%
19 Airway Heights, WA 10,570 11.0% 17.0%
20 Moses Lake, WA 25,155 13.0% 21.0%
21 Prosser, WA 6,138 19.0% 26.0%
22 Tukwila, WA 21,569 18.0% 26.0%
23 Pacific, WA 7,097 11.0% 19.0%
24 Selah, WA 8,203 15.0% 25.0%
25 Seatac, WA 30,927 16.0% 26.0%
26 Clarkston, WA 7,222 8.0% 16.0%
27 Fife, WA 10,887 13.0% 25.0%
28 Mount Vernon, WA 35,120 13.0% 25.0%
29 Monroe, WA 19,632 11.0% 22.0%
30 Ocean Shores, WA 6,838 10.0% 20.0%
31 Milton, WA 8,543 9.0% 19.0%
32 Kennewick, WA 83,823 13.0% 26.0%
33 Kent, WA 135,169 14.0% 27.0%
34 Sultan, WA 5,462 11.0% 24.0%
35 Lakewood, WA 63,142 11.0% 24.0%
36 Wenatchee, WA 35,365 16.0% 29.0%
37 Burlington, WA 9,361 10.0% 22.0%
38 Arlington, WA 20,263 10.0% 22.0%
39 Burien, WA 51,505 16.0% 30.0%
40 Sumner, WA 10,589 10.0% 24.0%
41 Everett, WA 110,847 11.0% 27.0%
42 Hoquiam, WA 8,742 6.0% 18.0%
43 Lynnwood, WA 39,867 13.0% 30.0%
44 Marysville, WA 70,847 8.0% 21.0%
45 Auburn, WA 85,623 11.0% 27.0%
46 Walla Walla, WA 33,842 12.0% 30.0%
47 Battle Ground, WA 20,888 7.0% 23.0%
48 Des Moines, WA 32,667 12.0% 30.0%
49 Federal Way, WA 99,614 11.0% 30.0%
50 Chehalis, WA 7,512 7.0% 25.0%
51 Spokane Valley, WA 103,761 7.0% 25.0%
52 Orting, WA 8,898 5.0% 21.0%
53 Buckley, WA 5,191 6.0% 25.0%
54 Stanwood, WA 8,051 5.0% 24.0%
55 Snohomish, WA 10,133 9.0% 30.0%
56 Yelm, WA 10,438 5.0% 22.0%
57 Tacoma, WA 219,234 10.0% 32.0%
58 Port Angeles, WA 20,007 8.0% 30.0%
59 Puyallup, WA 42,610 6.0% 27.0%
60 Bremerton, WA 43,983 6.0% 27.0%
61 Vancouver, WA 190,700 9.0% 31.0%
62 Washougal, WA 16,828 8.0% 30.0%
63 Renton, WA 105,355 10.0% 36.0%
64 Spokane, WA 227,922 8.0% 32.0%
65 College Place, WA 9,796 10.0% 39.0%
66 Port Orchard, WA 15,820 7.0% 31.0%
67 Lynden, WA 15,723 5.0% 28.0%
68 Bonney Lake, WA 22,590 5.0% 28.0%
69 Lacey, WA 56,263 6.0% 33.0%
70 West Richland, WA 16,547 7.0% 40.0%
71 Covington, WA 20,814 6.0% 33.0%
72 Oak Harbor, WA 24,458 4.0% 28.0%
73 Lake Stevens, WA 38,816 5.0% 32.0%
74 Cheney, WA 12,848 7.0% 42.0%
75 Ferndale, WA 15,130 5.0% 34.0%
76 Blaine, WA 5,865 4.0% 33.0%
77 Ellensburg, WA 19,003 6.0% 45.0%
78 Enumclaw, WA 12,630 4.0% 31.0%
79 Edgewood, WA 12,397 3.0% 29.0%
80 Mountlake Terrace, WA 21,350 5.0% 42.0%
81 Sequim, WA 8,073 4.0% 35.0%
82 Bellingham, WA 91,353 5.0% 47.0%
83 Gig Harbor, WA 11,917 5.0% 49.0%
84 University Place, WA 34,696 4.0% 42.0%
85 Anacortes, WA 17,667 4.0% 45.0%
86 Ridgefield, WA 11,486 3.0% 35.0%
87 Richland, WA 60,867 4.0% 46.0%
88 Brier, WA 6,539 4.0% 47.0%
89 Seattle, WA 734,603 5.0% 66.0%
90 North Bend, WA 7,549 5.0% 55.0%
91 Poulsbo, WA 11,824 4.0% 46.0%
92 Shoreline, WA 58,673 4.0% 54.0%
93 Dupont, WA 9,955 4.0% 52.0%
94 Camas, WA 26,387 4.0% 52.0%
95 Tumwater, WA 25,617 3.0% 41.0%
96 Bothell, WA 47,917 4.0% 57.0%
97 Steilacoom, WA 6,680 3.0% 47.0%
98 Fircrest, WA 7,098 3.0% 45.0%
99 Olympia, WA 55,151 3.0% 49.0%
100 Mill Creek, WA 20,797 3.0% 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.

4 thoughts on “The 10 Dumbest Places In Washington For 2024

  1. A lot of the Mexicans are moving north, as far away from the borders as they can. There is a lot of them, that have no education. There is also many that don’t speak English and there parents don’t speak English, so they are very hard to educate and very costly, until they can speak English. Washington State is a Democrat state on the west side, and they feel they will be safer here from deportation if they are illegal.

  2. They may not be able to speak English, In my opinion, if you live In America, then speak our language, regardless where your from, if you live there, then be accountable for it. weather your Spanish, Vietnamise, Islam, speak our language, don’t change our culture. We are Americans, we speak English, we salute the flag, we say the Pledge of allegiance, I am female and I was in the Marine Corps 50 years ago, and I’m proud, not looking for a handout or a free meal. I’m 70 years old, raised 2 boys, have 4 grandkids, love my life.

  3. I would love to see the under 5,000 pop list!! LOL
    And there is no such thing as a migrating Mexican citizen anymore!
    They don’t go back! They stay once they accomplish getting here in eastern Washington.
    Come visit the weekend Mexican flea market in El Pasco!
    It truly is wonderful with amazing food!

  4. The glaring commonality in six out of ten of those cities is the huge illegal alien population of those communities. All of them are in agricultural areas of the state. Toppenish, Wapato, Sunnyside, Othello and Yakima are all inundated with “immigrants” and street gangs. Besides the produce, the area also “exports” its hoodlums to other communities in the state. Bottom line, what little education the adults did get, they got in Mexico, El Salvador etc.

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