The 10 Dumbest Places In South Carolina For 2024


The dumbest places in South Carolina are Dillon and Darlington for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

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

A recent study we published found that South Carolina is the 41st smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 97.

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


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


Dumbest Cities In South Carolina 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 64 cities in South Carolina to rank. You can take a look at the data below.

For more South Carolina reading, check out:

The 10 Dumbest Places In South Carolina For 2024

Dillon, SC

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

5
/10
Population: 6,454
% Adult High School Dropout: 23.0%
% Highly Educated: 15.0%
More on Dillon: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Darlington, SC

Source: Flickr User Roadgeek Adam | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

2
/10
Population: 6,172
% Adult High School Dropout: 22.0%
% Highly Educated: 16.0%
More on Darlington: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Union, SC

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 8,099
% Adult High School Dropout: 19.0%
% Highly Educated: 17.0%
More on Union: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Chester, SC

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 5,260
% Adult High School Dropout: 18.0%
% Highly Educated: 10.0%
More on Chester: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

York, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Connor401 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 8,534
% Adult High School Dropout: 18.0%
% Highly Educated: 17.0%
More on York: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Newberry, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Chanilim714 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10
Population: 10,682
% Adult High School Dropout: 21.0%
% Highly Educated: 20.0%
More on Newberry: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Batesburg-Leesville, SC

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

4
/10
Population: 5,004
% Adult High School Dropout: 18.0%
% Highly Educated: 18.0%
More on Batesburg-Leesville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Walterboro, SC

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

3
/10
Population: 5,515
% Adult High School Dropout: 20.0%
% Highly Educated: 20.0%
More on Walterboro: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Lancaster, SC

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

5
/10
Population: 8,592
% Adult High School Dropout: 17.0%
% Highly Educated: 17.0%
More on Lancaster: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Bennettsville, SC

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

3
/10
Population: 6,975
% Adult High School Dropout: 14.0%
% Highly Educated: 10.0%
More on Bennettsville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Palmetto 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 South Carolina:

  • % 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 South Carolina from dumbest to brightest.

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

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

If you’re measuring the locations in South Carolina 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 South Carolina are Dillon, Darlington, Union, Chester, York, Newberry, Batesburg-Leesville, Walterboro, Lancaster, and Bennettsville.

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

  1. Tega Cay
  2. Mount Pleasant
  3. Fort Mill

For more South Carolina reading, check out:

Dumbest Cities In South Carolina For 2024

Rank City Population % Adult High School Dropout % Highly Educated
1 Dillon, SC 6,454 23.0% 15.0%
2 Darlington, SC 6,172 22.0% 16.0%
3 Union, SC 8,099 19.0% 17.0%
4 Chester, SC 5,260 18.0% 10.0%
5 York, SC 8,534 18.0% 17.0%
6 Newberry, SC 10,682 21.0% 20.0%
7 Batesburg-Leesville, SC 5,004 18.0% 18.0%
8 Walterboro, SC 5,515 20.0% 20.0%
9 Lancaster, SC 8,592 17.0% 17.0%
10 Bennettsville, SC 6,975 14.0% 10.0%
11 Laurens, SC 9,276 17.0% 18.0%
12 Greenwood, SC 22,528 18.0% 21.0%
13 Cheraw, SC 5,056 18.0% 22.0%
14 Gaffney, SC 12,651 17.0% 20.0%
15 Marion, SC 6,402 15.0% 19.0%
16 Clover, SC 6,800 16.0% 25.0%
17 Seneca, SC 8,834 13.0% 26.0%
18 Clinton, SC 7,624 17.0% 29.0%
19 Orangeburg, SC 13,220 16.0% 28.0%
20 Conway, SC 25,121 9.0% 18.0%
21 North Charleston, SC 115,755 12.0% 27.0%
22 Anderson, SC 29,345 11.0% 27.0%
23 Spartanburg, SC 38,301 15.0% 32.0%
24 Georgetown, SC 8,465 10.0% 27.0%
25 Fountain Inn, SC 10,675 12.0% 31.0%
26 Sumter, SC 43,046 11.0% 28.0%
27 Hartsville, SC 7,450 12.0% 31.0%
28 Florence, SC 39,931 11.0% 31.0%
29 Easley, SC 23,135 12.0% 32.0%
30 Goose Creek, SC 45,858 8.0% 27.0%
31 Moncks Corner, SC 13,456 8.0% 28.0%
32 Myrtle Beach, SC 36,064 9.0% 32.0%
33 Lyman, SC 6,099 7.0% 27.0%
34 Hollywood, SC 5,397 9.0% 35.0%
35 Summerville, SC 50,839 7.0% 31.0%
36 Greer, SC 37,010 10.0% 38.0%
37 Rock Hill, SC 74,170 8.0% 33.0%
38 West Columbia, SC 17,459 9.0% 37.0%
39 Camden, SC 7,834 7.0% 33.0%
40 Travelers Rest, SC 7,929 10.0% 43.0%
41 Central, SC 5,272 11.0% 52.0%
42 Aiken, SC 32,014 9.0% 43.0%
43 Hanahan, SC 20,731 7.0% 37.0%
44 Port Royal, SC 14,573 7.0% 36.0%
45 Simpsonville, SC 24,133 6.0% 35.0%
46 Columbia, SC 136,754 8.0% 45.0%
47 Mauldin, SC 25,267 6.0% 36.0%
48 Irmo, SC 11,685 5.0% 35.0%
49 Cayce, SC 13,755 4.0% 33.0%
50 North Augusta, SC 24,425 6.0% 38.0%
51 Hilton Head Island, SC 37,708 8.0% 54.0%
52 Beaufort, SC 13,582 4.0% 36.0%
53 Lexington, SC 23,665 6.0% 45.0%
54 North Myrtle Beach, SC 18,850 5.0% 39.0%
55 Greenville, SC 70,838 7.0% 54.0%
56 Hardeeville, SC 8,048 4.0% 44.0%
57 Charleston, SC 149,960 5.0% 57.0%
58 Bluffton, SC 29,375 4.0% 46.0%
59 James Island, SC 11,689 4.0% 51.0%
60 Forest Acres, SC 10,514 5.0% 60.0%
61 Clemson, SC 17,557 4.0% 64.0%
62 Fort Mill, SC 26,022 4.0% 55.0%
63 Mount Pleasant, SC 90,945 2.0% 65.0%
64 Tega Cay, SC 12,816 0.0% 67.0%
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.

2 thoughts on “The 10 Dumbest Places In South Carolina For 2024

  1. You are worng Rockhill SC is the bumest city in S C I am a truckdriver asked a Policeofficer were a place was He didn’t know looked to the right and saw were I was going behind another building . I went there another time ask for directions nobody knew where it was. At least in Dillon people can tell you where anything is
    .

  2. I definitely agree with Dillon being dumb,at any given time you can go to Dillon and be totally pissed by the time you leave! The people there are the worst drivers ever too,they either want to run over you or go 20 mph! There is no in-between with Dillon. I went to the little Caesars pizza there one time to get a $6 extra most bestest cheese and a $5 pepperoni and it took me 5 minutes to get the woman at the window to understand I was ordering 2 separate pizzas and not just one! Then she’s going to tell me that they don’t sell extra most bestest cheese pizzas while I was looking directly at the menu behind her head that clearly said extra most bestest cheese for $6! Finally thought she had it figured out and when I got my pizzas they had of course gotten them wrong! so i ended up with 3 pizzas ,they gave me a free one because they couldn’t figure out what I wanted lololol! I sometimes wonder if there is something in the water they drink!

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