The 10 Dumbest Places In Connecticut For 2024

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

A recent study we published found that Connecticut is the 11th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 101.

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

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

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The 10 Dumbest Places In Connecticut

1. Hartford
2. Waterbury
3. New Britain
4. Meriden
5. Bridgeport
6. Ansonia
7. New London
8. Norwich
9. West Haven
10. Danbury

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 9,000, leaving us 21 cities in Connecticut to rank. You can take a look at the data below.

For more Connecticut reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In Connecticut
• Safest Places To Live In Connecticut

The 10 Dumbest Places In Connecticut For 2024

1. Hartford

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 121,057
% Adult High School Dropout: 25.0%
% Highly Educated: 17.0%
More on Hartford: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

2. Waterbury

Source: Wikipedia User Daniel Case, Grossus | GFDL

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 114,480
% Adult High School Dropout: 19.0%
% Highly Educated: 16.0%
More on Waterbury: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

3. New Britain

Source: Wikipedia User Bmr1987 | CC BY 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 74,212
% Adult High School Dropout: 19.0%
% Highly Educated: 20.0%
More on New Britain: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

4. Meriden

Source: Wikipedia User John Phelan | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 60,556
% Adult High School Dropout: 15.0%
% Highly Educated: 20.0%
More on Meriden: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

5. Bridgeport

Source: Wikipedia User Magicpiano | CC BY-SA 4.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 148,470
% Adult High School Dropout: 19.0%
% Highly Educated: 25.0%
More on Bridgeport: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

6. Ansonia

Source: Wikipedia User Milfordwoman | GFDL

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 18,954
% Adult High School Dropout: 12.0%
% Highly Educated: 21.0%
More on Ansonia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

7. New London

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 27,596
% Adult High School Dropout: 13.0%
% Highly Educated: 26.0%
More on New London: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

8. Norwich

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 40,054
% Adult High School Dropout: 11.0%
% Highly Educated: 24.0%
More on Norwich: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

9. West Haven

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 55,336
% Adult High School Dropout: 13.0%
% Highly Educated: 27.0%
More on West Haven: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

10. Danbury

Source: Wikipedia User Dj1998d | CC BY-SA 4.0

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 86,456
% Adult High School Dropout: 16.0%
% Highly Educated: 35.0%
More on Danbury: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Constitution 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 Connecticut:

• % 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 Connecticut from dumbest to brightest.

For this ranking, we used every Connecticut city with at least 9,000 residents. We updated this article for 2024, and it’s our tenth time ranking the dumbest cities in Connecticut.

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

If you’re measuring the locations in Connecticut 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 Connecticut are Hartford, Waterbury, New Britain, Meriden, Bridgeport, Ansonia, New London, Norwich, West Haven, and Danbury.

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

1. Milford
2. Shelton
3. Stamford

For more Connecticut reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In Connecticut
• Cheapest Places To Live In Connecticut
• Most Dangerous Cities In Connecticut
• Richest Cities In Connecticut
• Safest Places In Connecticut
• Worst Places To Live In Connecticut
• Most Expensive Places To Live In Connecticut

Dumbest Cities In Connecticut For 2024