These Are The 10 Dumbest Cities In South Carolina


We used science and data to determine which of South Carolina’s cities are dumb as rocks.

This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out.

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South Carolina might be a great place to live in many ways, but if intellect is important to you, it leaves a lot to be desired.

According to a recent article published by The Washington Post, South Carolina is the sixth dumbest state in the country, with well below average scores in every intelligence category.

That doesn’t mean the state is filled to the brim with blockheads though. It just means that some cities are dragging South Carolina’s overall IQ down a few points. Which ones?

After crunching the numbers, we came up with this list of the ten dumbest cities in the Palmetto State:

  1. Dillon (Photos)
  2. York (Photos)
  3. Greenwood (Photos)
  4. Bennettsville
  5. Chester (Photos)
  6. Abbeville (Photos)
  7. Walterboro (Photos)
  8. Clinton
  9. Anderson (Photos)
  10. North Charleston (Photos)

For more South Carolina reading, check out:

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How we determined the dumbest cities in the Palmetto State

We realize that formal education isn’t everything when it comes to being smart, but on the other hand not knowing the difference between they’re, their, and there is always going to make you look pretty stupid.

So we narrowed down our criteria to focus both 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 city’s population with less than a high school education (Age 25+)
  • % of high school dropouts (Ages 16-19)

Note: We only looked at cities with populations greater than 5,000, leaving us 62 cities in South Carolina to rank. We also looked at the graduation rates of the entire population, not the current rates for high schoolers.

1. Dillon

Dumbest South Carolina

Population: 6,731
Adults Without High School Diploma: 36.4%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 18.6%

According to the data, Dillon, South Carolina is the dumbest city in the state. How’d it earn such a bad title?

Well for starters, Dillon has the second highest rate of uneducated adults in South Carolinian cities with populations over 5,000.

A whopping 36.4% of Dillon’s residents over the age of 25 lack a high school diploma, which is well over twice as high as the statewide average.

The current teenage high school dropout rate is also more than three times as high as the state average, with nearly 19 of every 100 Dillon’s teenage students opting out of basic education each year.

2. York

Dumbest South Carolina

Population: 7,913
Adults Without High School Diploma: 26.7%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 24.7%

York ranks as the second dumbest city in South Carolina overall, with a much lower rate of uneducated adults and a much higher rate of teenage dropouts than Dillon.

23.6% of York’s under 18 population lives below the poverty line, so it stands to reason that it’s tough to stay in school when things are financially rocky at home.

Still, with nearly a quarter of teens dropping out high school each year in York, the city’s dropout rate is roughly 5 times higher than the state average, and ranks as the third highest in the state.

The adults in York don’t do much to help the city’s smartness score, with 26.7% of residents over the age of 25 lacking a GED.

With poor education in both generations, York seems doomed to stay stupid for years to come.

3. Greenwood

Dumbest South Carolina

Population: 23,296
Adults Without High School Diploma: 28.8%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 13.5%

Located in western South Carolina, Greenwood has pretty poor statistics in both categories, giving it the title of third dumbest city in the state overall.

Greenwood has seen a sharp economic decline in recent years of deindustrialization, and a seriously undereducated adult population doesn’t help the situation.

Only about 71% of Greenwood’s adults finished high school, which is the eleventh worst rate in the state.

On top of that, 13.5% of Greenwood’s teenagers drop out of high school each year, which is well below the statewide average.

4. Bennettsville

Dumbest South Carolina

Population: 8,928
Adults Without High School Diploma: 28.1%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 13.2%

Located in northeastern South Carolina on the Great Pee Dee River, Bennettsville has both its adults and teens to blame for its fourth place position on this list.

28.1% of the city’s adult population never earned their high school diploma, which is the twelfth highest rate in the state.

About 13 of every 100 teenagers in Bennettsville also drop out of high school each year, which seriously hurts the city’s smartness score.

5. Chester

Dumbest South Carolina

Source: Public domain

Population: 5,543
Adults Without High School Diploma: 29.0%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 10.2%

All of the first five cities on this list are in the northern portion of the state, so apparently, that’s where most of South Carolina’s blockheads live.

Another northern city, Chester, sees 10.2% of its teenagers drop out of high school each year, which is about twice as high as the state average for cities with populations over 5,000.

The city’s adults are even worse in terms of education, with 29% of residents over the age of 25 lacking a GED.

6. Abbeville

Dumbest South Carolina

Population: 5,207
Adults Without High School Diploma: 23.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 11.4%

Abbeville’s motto touts that the city is “Pretty. Near. Perfect,” but, in terms of intelligence, that is Far. From. True.

Only about three quarters of the city’s adult population finished high school, which is the 20th worst rate in the state.

Teens in Abbeville are also dropping out at twice the rate as the rest of state, with 11.4% of them leaving high school each year.

7. Walterboro

Dumbest South Carolina

Population: 5,339
Adults Without High School Diploma: 17.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 21.2%

The first city on this list to be located in the southern portion of the state, Walterboro is about 50 miles west of Charleston.

Walterboro’s main issue is its ridiculously high teenage high school dropout rate; 21.2% of teens drop out each year, which is the fifth highest rate in the state for cities with populations over 5,000.

The adults aren’t nearly as bad; 17.5% of the city’s residents over the age of 25 never finished high school, but that’s only slightly higher than the statewide average.

It’s far more troublesome that Walterboro’s future generation is going to be even less educated than the current one.

8. Clinton

Dumbest South Carolina

Source: Public Domain

Population: 8,525
Adults Without High School Diploma: 27.4%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 5.7%

Clinton ranks as the eighth dumbest city in South Carolina overall.

27.4% of the city’s adults lack a high school diploma, which is the 15th highest rate in the state.

On the bright side, the teenage high school dropout rate of 5.7% is only slightly higher than the state average.

9. Anderson

Dumbest South Carolina

Population: 26,798
Adults Without High School Diploma: 22.2%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 5.8%

Located 50 miles west of Clinton, Anderson is slightly smarter, but not by a whole lot.

Anderson’s economy is primarily based around manufacturing, so it might not matter much that 22.2% of the city’s adults never completed basic formal education.

The teenage high school dropout rate also isn’t horrendous, but it’s still higher than the state average.

10. North Charleston

Dumbest South Carolina

Source: Public domain

Population: 102,143
Adults Without High School Diploma: 19.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 8.8%

The third largest city in the state and the biggest one to make this list, North Charleston is the tenth dumbest city in South Carolina.

19.3% of the city’s adults lack a GED, and 8.8% of the city’s teenagers drop out of high school each year, both of which are well worse than most other South Carolina cities.

Putting a dunce cap on our analysis

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

If you’re curious, here are the five smartest cities in South Carolina, in order: Tega Cay, Forest Acres, Charleston, Mauldin, and Port Royal. They are pretty well spread out over the state, so there doesn’t seem to be a geographic correlation with smarts in South Carolina.

Other notable cities: South Carolina’s capital, Columbia, ranked as the 20th smartest city in the state, with a super low teenage dropout rate of 1.5%.

Mount Pleasant is the 7th smartest city in the state, with 97.6% of the city’s adults possessing a high school diploma.

Rock Hill is the 30th dumbest city in the state, but has above average scores in both categories compared to the statewide average.

Detailed List Of Dumbest Cities In South Carolina

City Rank Population Adults Without High School Diploma Teenage High School Dropouts
Dillon 1 6,731 36.4% 18.6%
York 2 7,913 26.7% 24.7%
Greenwood 3 23,296 28.8% 13.5%
Bennettsville 4 8,928 28.1% 13.2%
Chester 5 5,543 29.0% 10.2%
Abbeville 6 5,207 23.3% 11.4%
Walterboro 7 5,339 17.5% 21.2%
Clinton 8 8,525 27.4% 5.7%
Anderson 9 26,798 22.2% 5.8%
North Charleston 10 102,143 19.3% 8.8%
Darlington 11 6,232 20.3% 7.5%
Batesburg-Leesville 12 5,242 18.6% 8.4%
Moncks Corner 13 8,711 14.4% 21.0%
Gaffney 14 12,565 22.1% 4.0%
West Columbia 15 15,623 15.7% 12.4%
Easley 16 20,242 17.8% 5.6%
Newberry 17 10,259 27.1% 2.1%
Lake City 18 6,720 29.2% 0.0%
Laurens 19 9,136 21.1% 2.9%
Myrtle Beach 20 28,455 14.2% 9.0%
Cheraw 21 5,809 28.1% 0.0%
Spartanburg 22 37,216 18.3% 3.8%
Greer 23 26,626 15.5% 5.4%
Fountain Inn 24 8,031 9.9% 14.3%
Lancaster 25 8,801 20.1% 1.8%
Greenville 26 60,670 13.2% 6.8%
Hartsville 27 7,857 15.3% 4.4%
Orangeburg 28 13,790 15.5% 4.0%
North Augusta 29 21,832 9.0% 8.3%
Rock Hill 30 68,185 12.3% 5.3%
Simpsonville 31 19,219 9.1% 8.3%
Union 32 8,191 19.0% 0.0%
Irmo 33 11,518 7.2% 11.9%
Florence 34 37,512 12.5% 4.4%
Sumter 35 40,819 15.9% 1.8%
Beaufort 36 12,702 10.9% 5.2%
Summerville 37 44,717 7.5% 7.7%
Marion 38 6,833 16.4% 0.0%
Clover 39 5,321 16.2% 0.0%
Seneca 40 8,147 16.0% 0.0%
Conway 41 18,645 15.6% 0.9%
Central 42 5,170 14.9% 0.9%
Columbia 43 131,331 13.6% 1.4%
Cayce 44 12,944 12.1% 2.2%
Georgetown 45 9,110 14.9% 0.0%
James Island 46 11,451 8.8% 3.9%
North Myrtle Beach 47 14,485 6.7% 5.2%
Camden 48 6,931 13.5% 0.0%
Bluffton 49 13,979 11.5% 1.3%
Hanahan 50 18,999 10.0% 1.8%
Clemson 51 14,254 3.2% 4.1%
Goose Creek 52 38,545 7.3% 3.5%
Lexington 53 19,007 6.4% 4.0%
Hilton Head Island 54 38,497 7.2% 2.5%
Fort Mill 55 12,068 10.6% 0.0%
Mount Pleasant 56 72,379 2.4% 3.9%
Aiken 57 29,980 9.4% 0.0%
Port Royal 58 11,264 7.4% 1.1%
Mauldin 59 23,985 8.2% 0.0%
Charleston 60 125,458 6.8% 1.0%
Forest Acres 61 10,533 3.9% 0.6%
Tega Cay 62 8,224 2.3% 0.0%