The 10 Dumbest Cities In America For 2024


The dumbest cities in the US are Santa Maria and El Monte for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Dumbest Cities In The United States Map

Americans are really smart. Some are just smarter than others.

And today, we will focus on the other Americans, the dumb ones.

More precisely, what cities in the U.S. are the dumbest.

How do you decide which city in the U.S. is the dumbest? We used Saturday Night Science to measure the high school graduation rate and the rates of college completion for adults by city. We used those criteria to create an index and then ranked the cities based on the index.

And if you’re lost now, chances are you live in one of the locations listed below.


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


Are we seeing a pattern here? Almost all the cities on this list are in California and Texas.

Also, we’re not saying the people in these cities – or the cities themselves – are bad. We’re just observing that they’re not the brightest bulbs in the room.

And it’s all in good fun, so don’t break the mood.

Related Reading:

The 10 Dumbest Cities In America For 2024

Santa Maria, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Mr. Brendel | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 109,543
Adult High School Dropout: 37.0% (2nd worst)
Adult Highly Educated: 14.0% (6th worst)
More on Santa Maria: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

El Monte, CA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 108,682
Adult High School Dropout: 36.0% (3rd worst)
Adult Highly Educated: 14.0% (6th worst)
More on El Monte: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

El Monte is just a bit east of Los Angeles. Here, 47% of the residents are high school dropouts. There are 10 bars for every library here. In fact, there aren’t very many libraries at all in El Monte.

We’re not saying that a lack of libraries is a sign that people are stupid. We get it: Lots of people don’t attend libraries, and you can learn anything you want on the web. That’s if you have the web. There are large percentages of every large city that don’t have a computer or internet, and rely on a library in which to learn.

And that would be really tough in El Monte.

Salinas, CA

Source: Wikipedia User BrendelSignature at English Wikipedia | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 162,783
Adult High School Dropout: 38.0% (worst)
Adult Highly Educated: 15.0% (9th worst)
More on Salinas: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

So here’s the deal with Salinas: It has one of the nation’s highest number of uneducated residents. That’s a fact. But the library to bar ratio is actually respectable. There are quite a few libraries in town here.

For that reason, we’re arguing that there’s no excuse that such a large percentage of the population remains uneducated. Like quite a few other cities on this list, Salinas is a huge agricultural town, and it has one of the largest concentrations of illegal immigrants in the nation.

San Bernardino, CA

Source: Flickr User MOHSEN.WISE | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 221,041
Adult High School Dropout: 27.0% (10th worst)
Adult Highly Educated: 13.0% (4th worst)
More on San Bernardino: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

San Bernardino has been on our list before. And, we can attest that there are lots and lots of dumb people walking around San Bernardino any given day. While there are a decent number of city libraries here, if you ask a native of San Bernardino, they’d tell you the bars and clubs are much more popular.

It’s a place of high crime, and one where the people who have a decent education move away from. And it seems that those who have no motivation to excel in life take their place.

Jurupa Valley, CA

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

6
/10

Population: 105,672
Adult High School Dropout: 29.0% (8th worst)
Adult Highly Educated: 14.0% (6th worst)
More on Jurupa Valley: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Rialto, CA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 103,873
Adult High School Dropout: 26.0% (14th worst)
Adult Highly Educated: 12.0% (2nd worst)
More on Rialto: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Elizabeth, NJ

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

6
/10

Population: 135,665
Adult High School Dropout: 26.0% (12th worst)
Adult Highly Educated: 14.0% (6th worst)
More on Elizabeth: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

New Jersey isn’t known for its geniuses. Think of the Garden State and you conjure images of the Jersey Shore or the Sopranos. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that a couple New Jersey cities make this particular list.

The second Jersey entry comes from Elizabeth, a town of 135665 residents located just south of Newark. In fact, part of the Newark airport is located in Elizabeth…all those fumes probably don’t help.

Paterson, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User BJT11091 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 157,864
Adult High School Dropout: 24.0% (18th worst)
Adult Highly Educated: 12.0% (3rd worst)
More on Paterson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Pasadena, TX

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

4
/10

Population: 150,620
Adult High School Dropout: 26.0% (12th worst)
Adult Highly Educated: 16.0% (12th worst)
More on Pasadena: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

When your city’s nickname is “Pasa-get-down-dena”, that’s a clear indication that people are partying a lot more than learning. And more than a third of people seem to want to keep it that way.

A big part of the economy here is gas and oil exploration. Which is a great career for a hard-working, blue-collar worker that makes up a majority of the people living here.

Santa Ana, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Flickr upload bot | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 311,379
Adult High School Dropout: 35.0% (4th worst)
Adult Highly Educated: 18.0% (20th worst)
More on Santa Ana: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

When you have 22 bars for every library, and half of the people in your city are walking around without a high school education, that’s a sign that your town is lacking some real intelligence.

While we’re not judging the individual intelligence level of anyone in Santa Ana in particular, it’s clear there’s not a lot upstairs with many, many people here.

Santa Ana is centrally located in Orange County, and it’s considered one of the most densely populated cities in the country.

Methodology: What stupid criteria did we use?

In order to rank the dumbest cities in the USA of A, we used Saturday Night Science to find the least educated cities.

We started by making a list of every place in the U.S. with over 100,000 people based on the 2018-2022 American Community Survey. That left us with 318 places to rank.

We then looked at the following dumb-tastic criteria for each of the places on the list:

  • % of the city’s population with less than a high school education (Age 25+)
  • % of city’s population without a college degree (Age 25+)

We updated this article for 2024. This is our tenth time ranking the dumbest cities to live in America. This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment — don’t freak out.

There You Have It — The Dumbest Big Cities in America

If you’re measuring the locations in America with many dropouts, few libraries, and where people tend to be less educated, this is an accurate list.

The dumbest cities in the United States are Santa Maria, CA, El Monte, CA, Salinas, CA, San Bernardino, CA, Jurupa Valley, CA, Rialto, CA, Elizabeth, NJ, Paterson, NJ, Pasadena, TX, and Santa Ana, CA.

If you’re curious enough, here are the least stupid places in America. Or, the smartest, if you will:

  1. Naperville
  2. Ann Arbor
  3. Frisco

The Dumbest Cities In America

Rank City Population Adult High School Dropout Adult Highly Educated
1 Santa Maria, CA 109,543 37.0% 14.0%
2 El Monte, CA 108,682 36.0% 14.0%
3 Salinas, CA 162,783 38.0% 15.0%
4 San Bernardino, CA 221,041 27.0% 13.0%
5 Jurupa Valley, CA 105,672 29.0% 14.0%
6 Rialto, CA 103,873 26.0% 12.0%
7 Elizabeth, NJ 135,665 26.0% 14.0%
8 Paterson, NJ 157,864 24.0% 12.0%
9 Pasadena, TX 150,620 26.0% 16.0%
10 Santa Ana, CA 311,379 35.0% 18.0%
11 Victorville, CA 134,417 22.0% 12.0%
12 Palmdale, CA 166,895 24.0% 16.0%
13 Hartford, CT 121,057 25.0% 17.0%
14 Pomona, CA 149,831 27.0% 19.0%
15 Brownsville, TX 186,999 32.0% 20.0%
16 Oxnard, CA 202,279 30.0% 20.0%
17 Ontario, CA 176,326 24.0% 19.0%
18 New Bedford, MA 100,620 22.0% 18.0%
19 Stockton, CA 320,030 22.0% 18.0%
20 Hialeah, FL 222,996 26.0% 20.0%
21 Laredo, TX 255,293 30.0% 21.0%
22 Newark, NJ 307,355 21.0% 18.0%
23 Moreno Valley, CA 209,578 20.0% 17.0%
24 Springfield, MA 155,305 21.0% 19.0%
25 Waterbury, CT 114,480 19.0% 16.0%
26 Mesquite, TX 149,439 19.0% 17.0%
27 Norwalk, CA 101,893 22.0% 21.0%
28 Fontana, CA 209,279 21.0% 20.0%
29 Lynn, MA 100,653 23.0% 22.0%
30 Lancaster, CA 171,465 19.0% 19.0%
31 North Las Vegas, NV 264,022 18.0% 18.0%
32 West Valley City, UT 138,868 17.0% 16.0%
33 Garden Grove, CA 171,637 24.0% 24.0%
34 Odessa, TX 113,353 18.0% 19.0%
35 Detroit, MI 636,787 17.0% 17.0%
36 Inglewood, CA 106,806 22.0% 24.0%
37 Miami Gardens, FL 111,618 17.0% 18.0%
38 Garland, TX 244,026 21.0% 24.0%
39 Fresno, CA 541,528 21.0% 24.0%
40 Allentown, PA 125,292 17.0% 19.0%
41 Cleveland, OH 370,365 18.0% 20.0%
42 Kansas City, KS 155,438 18.0% 21.0%
43 Brockton, MA 104,713 18.0% 21.0%
44 Downey, CA 113,052 20.0% 26.0%
45 Glendale, AZ 248,083 17.0% 22.0%
46 Bridgeport, CT 148,470 19.0% 25.0%
47 Anaheim, CA 347,111 23.0% 28.0%
48 Modesto, CA 218,308 15.0% 21.0%
49 Bakersfield, CA 404,321 17.0% 24.0%
50 Escondido, CA 151,114 20.0% 27.0%
51 Riverside, CA 316,076 17.0% 25.0%
52 Warren, MI 138,588 14.0% 20.0%
53 El Cajon, CA 105,721 15.0% 23.0%
54 Corpus Christi, TX 317,804 15.0% 23.0%
55 El Paso, TX 677,181 18.0% 27.0%
56 Elgin, IL 114,190 18.0% 27.0%
57 Edinburg, TX 100,964 20.0% 28.0%
58 Grand Prairie, TX 197,279 18.0% 27.0%
59 San Antonio, TX 1,445,662 17.0% 27.0%
60 Lowell, MA 114,737 18.0% 28.0%
61 Dayton, OH 137,305 13.0% 20.0%
62 Wichita Falls, TX 102,482 14.0% 23.0%
63 Rockford, IL 148,173 14.0% 23.0%
64 Las Vegas, NV 644,835 15.0% 26.0%
65 Greeley, CO 107,949 16.0% 27.0%
66 Menifee, CA 103,680 13.0% 21.0%
67 Milwaukee, WI 573,299 15.0% 26.0%
68 Antioch, CA 115,016 14.0% 24.0%
69 Amarillo, TX 200,360 14.0% 25.0%
70 Augusta-Richmond County Consolidated Government (Balance), GA 201,615 13.0% 23.0%
71 Gresham, OR 113,525 13.0% 23.0%
72 Waco, TX 140,545 15.0% 28.0%
73 Toledo, OH 269,962 12.0% 20.0%
74 Sparks, NV 108,025 14.0% 26.0%
75 Joliet, IL 150,221 14.0% 26.0%
76 Mcallen, TX 142,722 21.0% 32.0%
77 Phoenix, AZ 1,609,456 17.0% 30.0%
78 Shreveport, LA 186,183 14.0% 26.0%
79 Palm Bay, FL 121,513 12.0% 21.0%
80 Hayward, CA 160,602 18.0% 31.0%
81 Kent, WA 135,169 14.0% 27.0%
82 South Bend, IN 103,084 14.0% 28.0%
83 Nampa, ID 102,598 12.0% 22.0%
84 Tucson, AZ 541,033 14.0% 29.0%
85 Miami, FL 443,665 21.0% 34.0%
86 Abilene, TX 126,356 13.0% 26.0%
87 Beaumont, TX 114,573 13.0% 26.0%
88 Richmond, CA 115,619 20.0% 33.0%
89 Rochester, NY 210,992 16.0% 30.0%
90 Akron, OH 190,273 12.0% 23.0%
91 Long Beach, CA 462,293 19.0% 33.0%
92 Pompano Beach, FL 111,790 15.0% 30.0%
93 Fort Worth, TX 924,663 16.0% 31.0%
94 Dallas, TX 1,300,642 21.0% 35.0%
95 Vallejo, CA 125,132 13.0% 27.0%
96 Corona, CA 158,346 14.0% 30.0%
97 Syracuse, NY 146,134 15.0% 30.0%
98 Visalia, CA 141,466 12.0% 25.0%
99 Green Bay, WI 106,846 12.0% 25.0%
100 Evansville, IN 116,906 11.0% 22.0%

Dumbest Places By State

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

13 thoughts on “The 10 Dumbest Cities In America For 2024

  1. I believe you have failed to consider that many of the “high school dropouts” in El Monte are immigrants who had limited educational opportunities in their native countries and who, more importantly, risked life and limb to bring their children to our country so that their children would have a better chance at an education.

    These are some of the smartest people you’ll ever meet, and I’m honored to serve these people of courage, self-sacrifice, and perseverance as a teacher in El Monte.

  2. I really don’t understand what sex has to to with the average intelligence of a city. Sure, more women than men are graduating from the college and high school level, but that statistic was clearly covered by the high school graduation rate, which is really the only statistic that matters in this survey as far as getting an estimate on an IQ median of a population is concerned. I just can’t help but wonder if the author simply wants to degrade men for the sake of it. It feels like reading about the poverty of a city being attributed to the number of blacks or latinos/hispanics found in the specified city instead of the economic conditions in which many of them work. Yep. Pretty offensive and illogical stuff.

  3. I is fum conntickut and yous aint know nothing bout ratio impmalcemt
    from google : a ratio is a relationship between two numbers indicating how many times the first number contains the second.[1] For example, if a bowl of fruit contains eight oranges and six lemons, then the ratio of oranges to lemons is eight to six (that is, 8:6, which is equivalent to the ratio 4:3). PRICK

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

    Obviously any of the people who are triggered did not read this. Also, I am from Santa Ana and I totally agree with it because there are so many people who just do not try even though they are given all the opportunities.

  5. They factoring population of men because factually Women are Smarter than men so the more men you have in that City if it’s over 50% basically it’s saying with the fact that women are statistically smarter than men depending on how many men live there is going to make that City not as intelligent as others

  6. ATTN EASILY OFFENDED
    1) it’s a fun study using publicly updated Wikipedia as a source. NOT SCIENTIFIC
    2) Illegal aliens bring down the literacy rates. It’s not profiling, it’s a FACT. Mexico doesn’t ship its best & brightest to the US! They don’t want the unskilled! (they’re the smart ones)
    3) How stupid can you be to NOT attract WOMEN to your town! Unless it’s a White Party, no one likes a sausage fest

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