The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Wolverine 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 Michigan have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.
A recent study we published found that Michigan is the 27th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 100.
But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in Michigan are a bit slower than others due to a lack of basic education.
#1 dumbest in Michigan
Located in
Wayne County, Michigan
River Rouge is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan and an industrial Downriver suburb of Detroit. The population was 7,903 at the 2010 census. It is named after the River Rouge, which flows along the city’s northern border and into the Detroit River. The city includes the heavily industrialized Zug Island at the mouth of the River Rouge.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 dumbest in Michigan
Located in
Wayne County, Michigan
Ecorse is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan, named for the Ecorse River. The population was 9,512 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 dumbest in Michigan
Located in
Berrien County, Michigan
Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan which is located west of Kalamazoo, and northwest of South Bend, Indiana. In 2010, the population was 10,038 according to the census. It is the smaller, by population, of the two principal cities in the Niles-Benton Harbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, an area with 156,813 people.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 dumbest in Michigan
Located in
Wayne County, Michigan
Lincoln Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It lies in an area of cities and communities known as Downriver. The population was 38,144 at the 2010 census. The settlement was organized as a village in 1921, and reorganized as a city in 1925. The area was originally home to the Potawatomi Indians who ceded the land to a French settler, Pierre St. Cosme, in 1776. It developed as a bedroom community, providing homes to workers in the nearby steel mills and automobile plants of the Detroit area while having no industry within its bounds.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#5 dumbest in Michigan
Located in
Ionia County, Michigan
Ionia is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Ionia County, Michigan, United States. The population was 11,394 at the 2010 census. Every late July it hosts what is said to be the world’s largest free-admission fair. The city is mostly within Ionia Township, with small portion extending into Easton Township and Berlin Township, but is politically autonomous of the townships.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 dumbest in Michigan
Located in
Wayne County, Michigan
Melvindale is a city in Wayne County of the U.S. state of Michigan and a Downriver suburb of Detroit. At the 2010 census, the city population was 10,715. Melvindale’s slogan is “The Little City with a Big Heart.”
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#7 dumbest in Michigan
Located in
Gratiot County, Michigan
St. Louis is a city in Gratiot County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census the population was 7,482.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#8 dumbest in Michigan
Located in
Wayne County, Michigan
Inkster is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, United States. At the 2010 census, the city population was 25,369. It is one of the few Metro Detroit suburbs whose population is majority African American.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#9 dumbest in Michigan
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 dumbest in Michigan
Located in
Saginaw County, Michigan
Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both located in the area known as Mid-Michigan or Central Michigan. The city of Saginaw is located adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and is considered part of the Tri-City area, along with neighboring Bay City and Midland. The Saginaw County MSA had a population of 196,542 in 2013. The city is also the largest municipality within the Saginaw, Midland, and Bay City Metropolitan Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Michigan’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Michigan’s dumbest cities are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Wolverine 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 Michigan:
- % 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 2020-2024 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 Michigan from dumbest to brightest.
For this ranking, we used every Michigan city with at least 5,000 residents. We updated this article for 2026, and it’s our eleventh time ranking the dumbest cities in Michigan.
The full plate
Dumbest Cities In Michigan For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | % Adult High School Dropout | % Highly Educated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | River Rouge | 7,008 | 23.0% | 6.0% |
| 2 | Ecorse | 9,064 | 30.0% | 9.0% |
| 3 | Benton Harbor | 8,953 | 21.0% | 7.0% |
| 4 | Lincoln Park | 39,257 | 19.0% | 11.0% |
| 5 | Ionia | 12,753 | 16.0% | 10.0% |
| 6 | Melvindale | 12,554 | 28.0% | 14.0% |
| 7 | St. Louis | 7,367 | 15.0% | 6.0% |
| 8 | Inkster | 25,428 | 16.0% | 13.0% |
| 9 | Springfield | 5,269 | 15.0% | 12.0% |
| 10 | Saginaw | 43,536 | 15.0% | 13.0% |
| 11 | Sturgis | 11,054 | 17.0% | 16.0% |
| 12 | Pontiac | 62,104 | 17.0% | 16.0% |
| 13 | Flint | 80,175 | 15.0% | 14.0% |
| 14 | Dowagiac | 5,732 | 13.0% | 13.0% |
| 15 | Hamtramck | 27,743 | 35.0% | 17.0% |
| 16 | Muskegon Heights | 9,841 | 12.0% | 8.0% |
| 17 | Taylor | 62,081 | 14.0% | 16.0% |
| 18 | Highland Park | 8,628 | 16.0% | 17.0% |
| 19 | Jackson | 31,058 | 12.0% | 16.0% |
| 20 | Muskegon | 37,226 | 12.0% | 16.0% |
| 21 | Coldwater | 13,671 | 11.0% | 14.0% |
| 22 | Port Huron | 28,620 | 14.0% | 17.0% |
| 23 | Detroit | 638,530 | 16.0% | 19.0% |
| 24 | Lapeer | 9,082 | 12.0% | 17.0% |
| 25 | Belding | 5,960 | 12.0% | 17.0% |
| 26 | Eaton Rapids | 5,183 | 10.0% | 14.0% |
| 27 | Greenville | 8,995 | 13.0% | 20.0% |
| 28 | Alpena | 10,154 | 10.0% | 15.0% |
| 29 | Niles | 11,803 | 11.0% | 17.0% |
| 30 | Wayne | 17,310 | 11.0% | 17.0% |
| 31 | Warren | 137,928 | 14.0% | 21.0% |
| 32 | Monroe | 20,320 | 12.0% | 20.0% |
| 33 | Eastpointe | 33,982 | 10.0% | 16.0% |
| 34 | Roseville | 47,123 | 10.0% | 16.0% |
| 35 | Charlotte | 9,277 | 11.0% | 17.0% |
| 36 | Albion | 7,560 | 11.0% | 18.0% |
| 37 | Adrian | 20,395 | 12.0% | 21.0% |
| 38 | Center Line | 8,463 | 11.0% | 17.0% |
| 39 | Three Rivers | 7,943 | 8.0% | 14.0% |
| 40 | Southgate | 29,366 | 12.0% | 21.0% |
| 41 | Mount Clemens | 15,511 | 11.0% | 18.0% |
| 42 | Romulus | 24,831 | 9.0% | 16.0% |
| 43 | Burton | 29,500 | 9.0% | 17.0% |
| 44 | Wyoming | 77,353 | 12.0% | 26.0% |
| 45 | Escanaba | 12,354 | 10.0% | 20.0% |
| 46 | Westland | 83,633 | 11.0% | 22.0% |
| 47 | Cadillac | 10,445 | 11.0% | 22.0% |
| 48 | Richmond | 5,855 | 11.0% | 25.0% |
| 49 | Dearborn | 107,423 | 16.0% | 35.0% |
| 50 | Gladstone | 5,253 | 8.0% | 19.0% |
| 51 | Battle Creek | 52,374 | 9.0% | 23.0% |
| 52 | Dearborn Heights | 61,771 | 10.0% | 25.0% |
| 53 | Allegan | 5,172 | 7.0% | 18.0% |
| 54 | Menominee | 8,326 | 7.0% | 19.0% |
| 55 | Riverview | 12,186 | 8.0% | 21.0% |
| 56 | New Haven | 6,475 | 8.0% | 22.0% |
| 57 | Lansing | 113,023 | 11.0% | 30.0% |
| 58 | Hillsdale | 8,002 | 9.0% | 25.0% |
| 59 | Sterling Heights | 133,573 | 12.0% | 32.0% |
| 60 | Owosso | 14,632 | 8.0% | 21.0% |
| 61 | Fraser | 14,583 | 8.0% | 23.0% |
| 62 | Marysville | 9,925 | 8.0% | 24.0% |
| 63 | Hazel Park | 14,963 | 10.0% | 28.0% |
| 64 | Hastings | 7,520 | 8.0% | 25.0% |
| 65 | Manistee | 6,275 | 7.0% | 24.0% |
| 66 | Woodhaven | 12,690 | 8.0% | 27.0% |
| 67 | Wyandotte | 24,489 | 7.0% | 23.0% |
| 68 | Davison | 5,076 | 7.0% | 25.0% |
| 69 | Holly | 5,964 | 6.0% | 22.0% |
| 70 | Madison Heights | 28,419 | 10.0% | 34.0% |
| 71 | Iron Mountain | 7,518 | 6.0% | 23.0% |
| 72 | St. Johns | 7,715 | 7.0% | 27.0% |
| 73 | Grand Rapids | 198,535 | 11.0% | 41.0% |
| 74 | Flat Rock | 10,340 | 8.0% | 29.0% |
| 75 | Kentwood | 54,296 | 10.0% | 37.0% |
| 76 | Allen Park | 27,925 | 8.0% | 31.0% |
| 77 | Tecumseh | 8,646 | 6.0% | 26.0% |
| 78 | Harper Woods | 15,116 | 7.0% | 27.0% |
| 79 | Ludington | 7,676 | 7.0% | 29.0% |
| 80 | Holland | 34,423 | 9.0% | 36.0% |
| 81 | Kalamazoo | 73,076 | 9.0% | 38.0% |
| 82 | Sault Ste. Marie | 13,335 | 6.0% | 27.0% |
| 83 | Zeeland | 5,665 | 6.0% | 30.0% |
| 84 | St. Clair | 5,585 | 5.0% | 27.0% |
| 85 | Big Rapids | 8,477 | 5.0% | 27.0% |
| 86 | Howell | 10,021 | 7.0% | 31.0% |
| 87 | New Baltimore | 12,072 | 7.0% | 31.0% |
| 88 | Grand Blanc | 7,987 | 9.0% | 43.0% |
| 89 | Swartz Creek | 5,853 | 3.0% | 21.0% |
| 90 | Mason | 8,249 | 7.0% | 36.0% |
| 91 | Ishpeming | 6,181 | 4.0% | 27.0% |
| 92 | St. Clair Shores | 58,140 | 5.0% | 30.0% |
| 93 | Alma | 9,396 | 4.0% | 28.0% |
| 94 | Milan | 5,987 | 6.0% | 38.0% |
| 95 | Grand Haven | 10,996 | 5.0% | 36.0% |
| 96 | Trenton | 18,125 | 3.0% | 28.0% |
| 97 | Utica | 5,180 | 4.0% | 32.0% |
| 98 | Auburn Hills | 25,105 | 7.0% | 50.0% |
| 99 | Walled Lake | 7,299 | 4.0% | 33.0% |
| 100 | Norton Shores | 25,041 | 4.0% | 33.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 150 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep
If you’re measuring the locations in Michigan 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 Michigan are River Rouge, Ecorse, Benton Harbor, Lincoln Park, Ionia, Melvindale, St. Louis, Inkster, Springfield, and Saginaw. Not sold on Michigan? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
