The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Mountain 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 West Virginia have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.
A recent study we published found that West Virginia is the 43rd smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 97.
But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in West Virginia are a bit slower than others due to a lack of basic education.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Dumbest Places In West Virginia
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 24 cities in West Virginia to rank. You can take a look at the data below.
For more West Virginia reading, check out:
The 10 Dumbest Places In West Virginia For 2024
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 14.0%
% Highly Educated: 15.0%
More on Oak Hill: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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% Adult High School Dropout: 11.0%
% Highly Educated: 13.0%
More on Nitro: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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% Adult High School Dropout: 12.0%
% Highly Educated: 18.0%
More on Parkersburg: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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% Adult High School Dropout: 15.0%
% Highly Educated: 24.0%
More on Clarksburg: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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% Adult High School Dropout: 8.0%
% Highly Educated: 12.0%
More on Moundsville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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% Adult High School Dropout: 10.0%
% Highly Educated: 21.0%
More on Princeton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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% Adult High School Dropout: 12.0%
% Highly Educated: 25.0%
More on Martinsburg: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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% Adult High School Dropout: 10.0%
% Highly Educated: 24.0%
More on Beckley: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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% Adult High School Dropout: 11.0%
% Highly Educated: 25.0%
More on Bluefield: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
/10
% Adult High School Dropout: 9.0%
% Highly Educated: 24.0%
More on Buckhannon: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Mountain 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 West Virginia:
- % 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 West Virginia from dumbest to brightest.
For this ranking, we used every West Virginia city with at least 5,000 residents. We updated this article for 2024, and it’s our tenth time ranking the dumbest cities in West Virginia.
There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep
If you’re measuring the locations in West Virginia 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 West Virginia are Oak Hill, Nitro, Parkersburg, Clarksburg, Moundsville, Princeton, Martinsburg, Beckley, Bluefield, and Buckhannon.
If you’re also curious enough, here are the smartest places in West Virginia, according to science:
- Bridgeport
- Hurricane
- Morgantown
For more West Virginia reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In West Virginia
- Cheapest Places To Live In West Virginia
- Most Dangerous Cities In West Virginia
- Richest Cities In West Virginia
- Safest Places In West Virginia
- Worst Places To Live In West Virginia
- Most Expensive Places To Live In West Virginia
Dumbest Cities In West Virginia For 2024
| Rank | City | Population | % Adult High School Dropout | % Highly Educated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oak Hill, WV | 8,157 | 14.0% | 15.0% |
| 2 | Nitro, WV | 6,540 | 11.0% | 13.0% |
| 3 | Parkersburg, WV | 29,685 | 12.0% | 18.0% |
| 4 | Clarksburg, WV | 15,977 | 15.0% | 24.0% |
| 5 | Moundsville, WV | 8,056 | 8.0% | 12.0% |
| 6 | Princeton, WV | 5,833 | 10.0% | 21.0% |
| 7 | Martinsburg, WV | 18,678 | 12.0% | 25.0% |
| 8 | Beckley, WV | 17,132 | 10.0% | 24.0% |
| 9 | Bluefield, WV | 9,619 | 11.0% | 25.0% |
| 10 | Buckhannon, WV | 5,201 | 9.0% | 24.0% |
| 11 | New Martinsville, WV | 5,210 | 7.0% | 17.0% |
| 12 | Huntington, WV | 46,637 | 12.0% | 32.0% |
| 13 | Elkins, WV | 6,935 | 8.0% | 27.0% |
| 14 | Weirton, WV | 18,971 | 6.0% | 23.0% |
| 15 | Wheeling, WV | 26,900 | 8.0% | 31.0% |
| 16 | Dunbar, WV | 7,418 | 6.0% | 29.0% |
| 17 | Fairmont, WV | 18,402 | 7.0% | 31.0% |
| 18 | Charleston, WV | 48,415 | 8.0% | 43.0% |
| 19 | Vienna, WV | 10,642 | 5.0% | 29.0% |
| 20 | South Charleston, WV | 13,527 | 5.0% | 29.0% |
| 21 | St. Albans, WV | 10,753 | 3.0% | 32.0% |
| 22 | Morgantown, WV | 30,220 | 6.0% | 58.0% |
| 23 | Hurricane, WV | 6,908 | 3.0% | 33.0% |
| 24 | Bridgeport, WV | 9,255 | 3.0% | 55.0% |
There is a glaring typo in the second paragraph explaining why Hinton is so stupid. Maybe you shouldn’t be the one throwing rocks.
However had the nerve to call the stupidest towns in WV, is mean and cruel. Instead of insulting us try helping our state by writing articles of how our government officials seem to think education is not important and cutting the money for schools to other stupid thing.