The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Evergreen 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 Washington have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.
A recent study we published found that Washington is the 7th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 101.
But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in Washington are a bit slower than others due to a lack of basic education.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
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 121 cities in Washington to rank. You can take a look at the data below.
For more Washington reading, check out:
The 10 Dumbest Places In Washington For 2024
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 47.0%
% Highly Educated: 8.0%
More on Toppenish: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 36.0%
% Highly Educated: 5.0%
More on Grandview: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 32.0%
% Highly Educated: 6.0%
More on Union Gap: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 46.0%
% Highly Educated: 9.0%
More on Sunnyside: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
5. Connell
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 30.0%
% Highly Educated: 10.0%
More on Connell: Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 27.0%
% Highly Educated: 12.0%
More on Othello: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 30.0%
% Highly Educated: 18.0%
More on Quincy: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 17.0%
% Highly Educated: 18.0%
More on East Wenatchee: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 15.0%
% Highly Educated: 16.0%
More on Aberdeen: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 23.0%
% Highly Educated: 19.0%
More on Yakima: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Evergreen 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 Washington:
- % 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 Washington from dumbest to brightest.
For this ranking, we used every Washington city with at least 5,000 residents. We updated this article for 2024, and it’s our tenth time ranking the dumbest cities in Washington.
There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep
If you’re measuring the locations in Washington 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 Washington are Toppenish, Grandview, Union Gap, Sunnyside, Connell, Othello, Quincy, East Wenatchee, Aberdeen, and Yakima.
If you’re also curious enough, here are the smartest places in Washington, according to science:
- Bainbridge Island
- Redmond
- Mercer Island
For more Washington reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Washington
- Cheapest Places To Live In Washington
- Most Dangerous Cities In Washington
- Richest Cities In Washington
- Safest Places In Washington
- Worst Places To Live In Washington
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Washington
Dumbest Cities In Washington For 2024
| Rank | City | Population | % Adult High School Dropout | % Highly Educated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toppenish, WA | 8,820 | 47.0% | 8.0% |
| 2 | Grandview, WA | 10,922 | 36.0% | 5.0% |
| 3 | Union Gap, WA | 6,512 | 32.0% | 6.0% |
| 4 | Sunnyside, WA | 16,329 | 46.0% | 9.0% |
| 5 | Connell, WA | 5,175 | 30.0% | 10.0% |
| 6 | Othello, WA | 8,582 | 27.0% | 12.0% |
| 7 | Quincy, WA | 7,754 | 30.0% | 18.0% |
| 8 | East Wenatchee, WA | 14,065 | 17.0% | 18.0% |
| 9 | Aberdeen, WA | 16,969 | 15.0% | 16.0% |
| 10 | Yakima, WA | 96,764 | 23.0% | 19.0% |
| 11 | Kelso, WA | 12,661 | 13.0% | 12.0% |
| 12 | Centralia, WA | 18,234 | 15.0% | 17.0% |
| 13 | Pasco, WA | 77,274 | 24.0% | 20.0% |
| 14 | Shelton, WA | 10,484 | 16.0% | 19.0% |
| 15 | Sedro-Woolley, WA | 12,470 | 12.0% | 16.0% |
| 16 | Ephrata, WA | 8,419 | 11.0% | 14.0% |
| 17 | Woodland, WA | 6,463 | 13.0% | 19.0% |
| 18 | Longview, WA | 37,722 | 11.0% | 16.0% |
| 19 | Airway Heights, WA | 10,570 | 11.0% | 17.0% |
| 20 | Moses Lake, WA | 25,155 | 13.0% | 21.0% |
| 21 | Prosser, WA | 6,138 | 19.0% | 26.0% |
| 22 | Tukwila, WA | 21,569 | 18.0% | 26.0% |
| 23 | Pacific, WA | 7,097 | 11.0% | 19.0% |
| 24 | Selah, WA | 8,203 | 15.0% | 25.0% |
| 25 | Seatac, WA | 30,927 | 16.0% | 26.0% |
| 26 | Clarkston, WA | 7,222 | 8.0% | 16.0% |
| 27 | Fife, WA | 10,887 | 13.0% | 25.0% |
| 28 | Mount Vernon, WA | 35,120 | 13.0% | 25.0% |
| 29 | Monroe, WA | 19,632 | 11.0% | 22.0% |
| 30 | Ocean Shores, WA | 6,838 | 10.0% | 20.0% |
| 31 | Milton, WA | 8,543 | 9.0% | 19.0% |
| 32 | Kennewick, WA | 83,823 | 13.0% | 26.0% |
| 33 | Kent, WA | 135,169 | 14.0% | 27.0% |
| 34 | Sultan, WA | 5,462 | 11.0% | 24.0% |
| 35 | Lakewood, WA | 63,142 | 11.0% | 24.0% |
| 36 | Wenatchee, WA | 35,365 | 16.0% | 29.0% |
| 37 | Burlington, WA | 9,361 | 10.0% | 22.0% |
| 38 | Arlington, WA | 20,263 | 10.0% | 22.0% |
| 39 | Burien, WA | 51,505 | 16.0% | 30.0% |
| 40 | Sumner, WA | 10,589 | 10.0% | 24.0% |
| 41 | Everett, WA | 110,847 | 11.0% | 27.0% |
| 42 | Hoquiam, WA | 8,742 | 6.0% | 18.0% |
| 43 | Lynnwood, WA | 39,867 | 13.0% | 30.0% |
| 44 | Marysville, WA | 70,847 | 8.0% | 21.0% |
| 45 | Auburn, WA | 85,623 | 11.0% | 27.0% |
| 46 | Walla Walla, WA | 33,842 | 12.0% | 30.0% |
| 47 | Battle Ground, WA | 20,888 | 7.0% | 23.0% |
| 48 | Des Moines, WA | 32,667 | 12.0% | 30.0% |
| 49 | Federal Way, WA | 99,614 | 11.0% | 30.0% |
| 50 | Chehalis, WA | 7,512 | 7.0% | 25.0% |
| 51 | Spokane Valley, WA | 103,761 | 7.0% | 25.0% |
| 52 | Orting, WA | 8,898 | 5.0% | 21.0% |
| 53 | Buckley, WA | 5,191 | 6.0% | 25.0% |
| 54 | Stanwood, WA | 8,051 | 5.0% | 24.0% |
| 55 | Snohomish, WA | 10,133 | 9.0% | 30.0% |
| 56 | Yelm, WA | 10,438 | 5.0% | 22.0% |
| 57 | Tacoma, WA | 219,234 | 10.0% | 32.0% |
| 58 | Port Angeles, WA | 20,007 | 8.0% | 30.0% |
| 59 | Puyallup, WA | 42,610 | 6.0% | 27.0% |
| 60 | Bremerton, WA | 43,983 | 6.0% | 27.0% |
| 61 | Vancouver, WA | 190,700 | 9.0% | 31.0% |
| 62 | Washougal, WA | 16,828 | 8.0% | 30.0% |
| 63 | Renton, WA | 105,355 | 10.0% | 36.0% |
| 64 | Spokane, WA | 227,922 | 8.0% | 32.0% |
| 65 | College Place, WA | 9,796 | 10.0% | 39.0% |
| 66 | Port Orchard, WA | 15,820 | 7.0% | 31.0% |
| 67 | Lynden, WA | 15,723 | 5.0% | 28.0% |
| 68 | Bonney Lake, WA | 22,590 | 5.0% | 28.0% |
| 69 | Lacey, WA | 56,263 | 6.0% | 33.0% |
| 70 | West Richland, WA | 16,547 | 7.0% | 40.0% |
| 71 | Covington, WA | 20,814 | 6.0% | 33.0% |
| 72 | Oak Harbor, WA | 24,458 | 4.0% | 28.0% |
| 73 | Lake Stevens, WA | 38,816 | 5.0% | 32.0% |
| 74 | Cheney, WA | 12,848 | 7.0% | 42.0% |
| 75 | Ferndale, WA | 15,130 | 5.0% | 34.0% |
| 76 | Blaine, WA | 5,865 | 4.0% | 33.0% |
| 77 | Ellensburg, WA | 19,003 | 6.0% | 45.0% |
| 78 | Enumclaw, WA | 12,630 | 4.0% | 31.0% |
| 79 | Edgewood, WA | 12,397 | 3.0% | 29.0% |
| 80 | Mountlake Terrace, WA | 21,350 | 5.0% | 42.0% |
| 81 | Sequim, WA | 8,073 | 4.0% | 35.0% |
| 82 | Bellingham, WA | 91,353 | 5.0% | 47.0% |
| 83 | Gig Harbor, WA | 11,917 | 5.0% | 49.0% |
| 84 | University Place, WA | 34,696 | 4.0% | 42.0% |
| 85 | Anacortes, WA | 17,667 | 4.0% | 45.0% |
| 86 | Ridgefield, WA | 11,486 | 3.0% | 35.0% |
| 87 | Richland, WA | 60,867 | 4.0% | 46.0% |
| 88 | Brier, WA | 6,539 | 4.0% | 47.0% |
| 89 | Seattle, WA | 734,603 | 5.0% | 66.0% |
| 90 | North Bend, WA | 7,549 | 5.0% | 55.0% |
| 91 | Poulsbo, WA | 11,824 | 4.0% | 46.0% |
| 92 | Shoreline, WA | 58,673 | 4.0% | 54.0% |
| 93 | Dupont, WA | 9,955 | 4.0% | 52.0% |
| 94 | Camas, WA | 26,387 | 4.0% | 52.0% |
| 95 | Tumwater, WA | 25,617 | 3.0% | 41.0% |
| 96 | Bothell, WA | 47,917 | 4.0% | 57.0% |
| 97 | Steilacoom, WA | 6,680 | 3.0% | 47.0% |
| 98 | Fircrest, WA | 7,098 | 3.0% | 45.0% |
| 99 | Olympia, WA | 55,151 | 3.0% | 49.0% |
| 100 | Mill Creek, WA | 20,797 | 3.0% | 53.0% |
A lot of the Mexicans are moving north, as far away from the borders as they can. There is a lot of them, that have no education. There is also many that don’t speak English and there parents don’t speak English, so they are very hard to educate and very costly, until they can speak English. Washington State is a Democrat state on the west side, and they feel they will be safer here from deportation if they are illegal.
They may not be able to speak English, In my opinion, if you live In America, then speak our language, regardless where your from, if you live there, then be accountable for it. weather your Spanish, Vietnamise, Islam, speak our language, don’t change our culture. We are Americans, we speak English, we salute the flag, we say the Pledge of allegiance, I am female and I was in the Marine Corps 50 years ago, and I’m proud, not looking for a handout or a free meal. I’m 70 years old, raised 2 boys, have 4 grandkids, love my life.
I would love to see the under 5,000 pop list!! LOL
And there is no such thing as a migrating Mexican citizen anymore!
They don’t go back! They stay once they accomplish getting here in eastern Washington.
Come visit the weekend Mexican flea market in El Pasco!
It truly is wonderful with amazing food!
The glaring commonality in six out of ten of those cities is the huge illegal alien population of those communities. All of them are in agricultural areas of the state. Toppenish, Wapato, Sunnyside, Othello and Yakima are all inundated with “immigrants” and street gangs. Besides the produce, the area also “exports” its hoodlums to other communities in the state. Bottom line, what little education the adults did get, they got in Mexico, El Salvador etc.