The 10 Dumbest Places In Iowa For 2024


The dumbest places in Iowa are Osceola and Perry for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

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

A recent study we published found that Iowa is the 14th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 101.

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


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


Dumbest Cities In Iowa 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 77 cities in Iowa to rank. You can take a look at the data below.

For more Iowa reading, check out:

The 10 Dumbest Places In Iowa For 2024

Osceola, IA

Source: Wikipedia User en:User:Cburnett | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 5,455
% Adult High School Dropout: 20.0%
% Highly Educated: 12.0%
More on Osceola: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Perry, IA

Source: Wikipedia User Richc80 | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 7,875
% Adult High School Dropout: 15.0%
% Highly Educated: 12.0%
More on Perry: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Denison, IA

Source: Wikipedia User Billwhittaker (talk) | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Population: 8,316
% Adult High School Dropout: 27.0%
% Highly Educated: 15.0%
More on Denison: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Estherville, IA

Source: Wikipedia User High Contrast | CC BY 3.0 de
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Population: 5,881
% Adult High School Dropout: 19.0%
% Highly Educated: 13.0%
More on Estherville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Storm Lake, IA

Source: Wikipedia User Scott A. Miller | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 11,194
% Adult High School Dropout: 33.0%
% Highly Educated: 17.0%
More on Storm Lake: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Marshalltown, IA

Source: Wikipedia User Kepper66 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 27,511
% Adult High School Dropout: 20.0%
% Highly Educated: 19.0%
More on Marshalltown: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Ottumwa, IA

Source: Wikipedia User en:User:Cburnett | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 25,359
% Adult High School Dropout: 13.0%
% Highly Educated: 19.0%
More on Ottumwa: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Oelwein, IA

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

6
/10
Population: 5,934
% Adult High School Dropout: 9.0%
% Highly Educated: 14.0%
More on Oelwein: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Red Oak, IA

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

5
/10
Population: 5,563
% Adult High School Dropout: 10.0%
% Highly Educated: 15.0%
More on Red Oak: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Clarinda, IA

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

6
/10
Population: 5,371
% Adult High School Dropout: 10.0%
% Highly Educated: 16.0%
More on Clarinda: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Hawkeye 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 Iowa:

  • % 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 Iowa from dumbest to brightest.

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

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

If you’re measuring the locations in Iowa 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 Iowa are Osceola, Perry, Denison, Estherville, Storm Lake, Marshalltown, Ottumwa, Oelwein, Red Oak, and Clarinda.

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

  1. Asbury
  2. North Liberty
  3. Waukee

For more Iowa reading, check out:

Dumbest Cities In Iowa For 2024

Rank City Population % Adult High School Dropout % Highly Educated
1 Osceola, IA 5,455 20.0% 12.0%
2 Perry, IA 7,875 15.0% 12.0%
3 Denison, IA 8,316 27.0% 15.0%
4 Estherville, IA 5,881 19.0% 13.0%
5 Storm Lake, IA 11,194 33.0% 17.0%
6 Marshalltown, IA 27,511 20.0% 19.0%
7 Ottumwa, IA 25,359 13.0% 19.0%
8 Oelwein, IA 5,934 9.0% 14.0%
9 Red Oak, IA 5,563 10.0% 15.0%
10 Clarinda, IA 5,371 10.0% 16.0%
11 Sheldon, IA 5,417 12.0% 20.0%
12 Anamosa, IA 5,493 10.0% 18.0%
13 Manchester, IA 5,112 12.0% 21.0%
14 Council Bluffs, IA 62,670 12.0% 21.0%
15 Clinton, IA 24,524 11.0% 20.0%
16 Centerville, IA 5,393 7.0% 15.0%
17 Keokuk, IA 9,868 8.0% 17.0%
18 Muscatine, IA 23,671 11.0% 22.0%
19 Fort Madison, IA 10,293 8.0% 18.0%
20 Fort Dodge, IA 24,850 10.0% 21.0%
21 Newton, IA 15,692 7.0% 18.0%
22 Mount Pleasant, IA 9,214 13.0% 25.0%
23 Waterloo, IA 67,256 10.0% 23.0%
24 Des Moines, IA 213,164 13.0% 29.0%
25 Atlantic, IA 6,770 11.0% 24.0%
26 Washington, IA 7,329 8.0% 22.0%
27 Cherokee, IA 5,154 6.0% 19.0%
28 Oskaloosa, IA 11,492 8.0% 23.0%
29 Burlington, IA 23,976 7.0% 22.0%
30 Algona, IA 5,443 7.0% 22.0%
31 Maquoketa, IA 6,123 4.0% 16.0%
32 Creston, IA 7,519 8.0% 25.0%
33 Knoxville, IA 7,523 7.0% 24.0%
34 Sioux Center, IA 8,227 12.0% 41.0%
35 Iowa Falls, IA 5,095 5.0% 22.0%
36 Hiawatha, IA 7,179 8.0% 32.0%
37 Davenport, IA 101,448 7.0% 29.0%
38 Independence, IA 6,106 5.0% 24.0%
39 Boone, IA 12,482 5.0% 23.0%
40 Winterset, IA 5,366 4.0% 22.0%
41 Nevada, IA 6,933 6.0% 32.0%
42 Cedar Rapids, IA 136,929 6.0% 33.0%
43 Carroll, IA 10,270 5.0% 24.0%
44 Dubuque, IA 59,315 6.0% 34.0%
45 Glenwood, IA 5,128 3.0% 24.0%
46 Le Mars, IA 10,549 4.0% 27.0%
47 Clear Lake, IA 7,642 5.0% 33.0%
48 Adel, IA 6,090 7.0% 44.0%
49 Grinnell, IA 9,511 5.0% 40.0%
50 Spencer, IA 11,351 3.0% 28.0%
51 Waverly, IA 10,399 5.0% 40.0%
52 Pleasant Hill, IA 10,456 3.0% 32.0%
53 Bondurant, IA 7,617 5.0% 51.0%
54 Decorah, IA 7,611 5.0% 45.0%
55 Altoona, IA 20,017 3.0% 33.0%
56 Pella, IA 10,556 5.0% 48.0%
57 Urbandale, IA 45,591 5.0% 52.0%
58 Indianola, IA 15,845 3.0% 33.0%
59 Marion, IA 41,401 3.0% 38.0%
60 Clive, IA 18,576 5.0% 59.0%
61 Spirit Lake, IA 5,409 2.0% 35.0%
62 Cedar Falls, IA 40,686 4.0% 48.0%
63 West Des Moines, IA 68,744 4.0% 53.0%
64 Fairfield, IA 9,474 3.0% 51.0%
65 Norwalk, IA 13,057 1.0% 39.0%
66 Sergeant Bluff, IA 5,007 2.0% 40.0%
67 Coralville, IA 22,494 5.0% 59.0%
68 Grimes, IA 15,402 2.0% 43.0%
69 Windsor Heights, IA 5,200 2.0% 43.0%
70 Ankeny, IA 68,392 2.0% 53.0%
71 Eldridge, IA 6,693 -0.0% 44.0%
72 Johnston, IA 23,856 3.0% 55.0%
73 Bettendorf, IA 38,997 2.0% 52.0%
74 Ames, IA 66,265 3.0% 62.0%
75 Waukee, IA 25,045 2.0% 59.0%
76 North Liberty, IA 20,393 1.0% 55.0%
77 Asbury, IA 5,890 1.0% 56.0%
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 Iowa For 2024

  1. I now know this is bs because likely 1 in 3 adults in Storm Lake is an immigrant. That’s unfortunate, but to equate that with “dumb” is just…stupid.

    1. Right JJ, it is NE of Fort Dodge in Wright County. Like Ann’s comment above yours, I wanted to point out that a lot of these cities are home to immigrants that moved there looking for work who may have not had much of a formal education. I am from EG and I know many bright and brilliant individuals who call Eagle Grove home. Also, I hope that author of the article notices that I used “there” correctly.

  2. Never seen any posts on Facebook from the average Des Moines resident, have you? Only about 20% know the difference between there, their, and they’re. And driving around these geniuses? Forget it. Rock bottom on the scale of unintelligence since they are too illiterate to read signs.

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