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The Smartest (and Least Smart) Cities in the U.S.
By analyzing Census data on educational achievement, Bizjournals developed a methodology wherein it ranked adults in nearly 16,000 cities, towns, villages, boroughs and unincorporated areas throughout the U.S. In the end, the methodology provided insight into the distribution of gray matter in America. Which big city proved to be brainiest? Seattle came out tops, with San Francisco and Austin followed close behind.
In terms of mid-sized communities, Arlington, Virginia, took first place. Ann Arbor, Michigan beat out the pack in the small cities category.
Of course, any time you rank the strongest, you necessarily have to rank the weakest. Which cities came in at the bottom?
For large communities, Miami edged out the competition. For medium communities, Santa Ana, California emerged the victor. For small communities, East Los Angeles took the top spot.
It's important to note that whether a city is considered more or less smart should not affect your enjoyment of the place. Just because the city, as a whole, has less educational achievement doesn't mean it's dangerous, or boring, or not worthy of a visit. I just returned from Miami, for example, and I had an absolute blast! Moreover, Santa Ana has a rich history and lots of things to do.
If a community offers activities that you're interested in, go for it! Don't worry about statistics!
Get smarter:* The Smart Traveler's Passport
* World's Most Expensive Cities
* The World's Most Polite and Rude Cities
Filed under: United States
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
Ben May 15th 2007 2:47PM
Rach, I thought you might like this. From the census data they made this list of 10 smarts and least smart cities in the US. All of the top three are places I've said I want to move to and one of them is where your from!
Chip May 19th 2007 2:16PM
This is the most arrogant thng I have seen on the internet. Most of us jumped thru hoops o get a degree and what does the degree prove? We are well trained pups or ponies. Most people who have never attended college are smarter than we are.
Quit being and arrogonat ass and look around you as you profess to.
robin May 19th 2007 2:19PM
I was born in East LA.....
I wonder why East LA and Santa Ana, CA rank in no smarts....guess who lives there.....MEXICANS, a bunch of Mexicans
NNN May 19th 2007 2:23PM
Cool! I live in Portland, Oregon!
Mendelson May 19th 2007 2:27PM
NEW ORLEANS... it should be the " BIG STUPID" not the Big Easy...what a bunch of uneducated, low class, idiots. Their main concerns are getting drunk and eating that awful fried food. What a filthy, dirty, stinky town.
MLR May 19th 2007 2:33PM
Wow! What kind of people are writing in to this blog? Noneof you sound very smart. I suppose most of you claim to be christian. Wow!
Deirdre May 20th 2007 11:34PM
I don't understand how New Bedford got to be on this list. I know the area and people from it and they are no more intelligent or less than towns around them. I think this study is severely scewed! More research needs to be done.
Martin Cryar May 19th 2007 3:00PM
i reely likded ur smarts cityes list. im now mtivated to bee smarterer than i wuz.
Caitlin May 19th 2007 3:02PM
This isn't necessarily the list of the smartest cities. Sure, these cities have the largest amounts of graduates, but some graduates are not very bright. Some people who never make it through high school are very intelligent.
mat6and33 May 19th 2007 3:07PM
I couldhave told you which cities would be ranked at the bottom. They're all represented by Democrats in the U.S. Senate.
angel Sep 28th 2007 10:47AM
What a pathetic study! It's laughable to think that whatever educational level achieved in this country in the last 25 years is a measure of "brain power"!! I learned more in high school than they do in college these days.
Gary Mayer May 20th 2007 12:14PM
Arlington, Va is #1 smartest because people move there to take government jobs which usually require a degree. Same with Madison, WI (#4) for medium-sized cities. But, I'd rather live in Madison because it's a healthier city than most in the USA.
Caterfour May 19th 2007 3:13PM
Gee, did anyone notice that the top ten were nearly all liberal cities? Makes me a bit leery about who concocted the methodology on this "study".
Jean May 19th 2007 3:14PM
Hey, Robin--what does ethnicity have to do with it? Garden Grove is Oriental--Viet, Thai, Korean--these are the people that win all the spelling bees. Miami has a lot of Cubans and "Snowbirds" from the north east. I think all this is saying is some communities have more people with the money to put kids through college; therefore they have more education than others. Being "smart" doesn't have much to do with it.
Bob Bobson May 19th 2007 3:24PM
I'm damning myself by posting this, but in general, people who CARE much about "smart" are not very, or they have it but are congenitally incapable of using it.
Examples: Mensa, the Seattle "music" scene", university "business education". And how many who criticize "dumb" areas like New Orleans or East LA have the smarts to actually SURVIVE there for more than a week?
James May 19th 2007 3:25PM
Gee, did anyone notice the top ten were all liberal cities? This just proves once again that liberals have all the answers and the rest of us idiots should SHUT UP!! and let them take care of us.
Martin Cryar May 19th 2007 3:31PM
You forgot one important city - Crawford, Texas! Hometown to one of the most intelligent men history will know - President Bush!
Jeannie May 19th 2007 3:32PM
The folk who compiled this report said in their section on methodology that they used the 2000 census data as their basis. There's an old saying in the analysis business that goes: "Garbage In, Garbage Out" or "GIGO". This bit of analysis serves as a case in point.
soonernise55 May 19th 2007 3:44PM
Yeah, Caitlin!!!You are so right on the money!It seems the more "degrees"a person has attained, the less common sense they possess.Guess theres not room in their educated brain for college degrees and common sense.Plus, they are arrogant toward those who have only a high school education.Well, all you "Educated Idiots," you can KMA, cause I'm damn well just as good as you are.Take THAT to your ivory tower!
angel May 19th 2007 3:45PM
hmm how did San Francisco come out 2nd in this study?? I lived there for a few years, I really dont see what's smart about ppl in that city in particular. If you consider those who drives a brand new BMW X5 but still live on government subsidies e.g. section 8, small business owners making millions but still gets a share of free childcare, e.g. medical for their kids... then yes SF ppl are very very smart. ^.^