The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the North Star 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 Minnesota have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.
A recent study we published found that Minnesota is the 5th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 103.
But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in Minnesota are a bit slower than others due to a lack of basic education.
#1 dumbest in Minnesota
Located in
McLeod County, Minnesota
Glencoe is the county seat of McLeod County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,631 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 dumbest in Minnesota
Located in
Nobles County, Minnesota
Worthington is a city and county seat of Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 12,764 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 dumbest in Minnesota
Located in
Rice County, Minnesota
Faribault is a city in Rice County, Minnesota, United States. It is the county seat. The population was 23,352 at the 2010 census. Faribault is approximately 50 miles south of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 dumbest in Minnesota
Located in
Stearns County, Minnesota
Waite Park is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,715 at the 2010 census and according to 2016 estimates is now 7,839. It is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#5 dumbest in Minnesota
Located in
Freeborn County, Minnesota
Albert Lea is a city located in Freeborn County, in the southeastern part of the State of Minnesota. It is also the county seat. The population was 18,016 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 dumbest in Minnesota
Data | Movers
#7 dumbest in Minnesota
Located in
Mower County, Minnesota
Austin is a city in Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 24,718 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Mower County. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and it has two artificial lakes called East Side Lake and Mill Pond. The town was named for Austin R. Nichols, the first settler in the area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#8 dumbest in Minnesota
Located in
Wright County, Minnesota
Monticello is a city in located next to the Mississippi River in Wright County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 12,759 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#9 dumbest in Minnesota
Located in
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Brooklyn Center is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The city is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River on the northwest border of Minneapolis. The population was 30,104 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 dumbest in Minnesota
Located in
St. Louis County, Minnesota
Hibbing is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,361 at the 2010 census. The city was built on the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range. At the edge of town is the largest open-pit iron mine in the world, the Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine. U.S. Highway 169, State Highway 37, State Highway 73, Howard Street, and 1st Avenue are five of the main routes in Hibbing. The Range Regional Airport offers daily commercial flights between Hibbing and Minneapolis, as well as hosting many private pilots and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fire fighting aircraft.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Minnesota’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Minnesota’s dumbest cities are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the North Star 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 Minnesota:
- % 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 Minnesota from dumbest to brightest.
For this ranking, we used every Minnesota city with at least 5,000 residents. We updated this article for 2026, and it’s our eleventh time ranking the dumbest cities in Minnesota.
The full plate
Dumbest Cities In Minnesota For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | % Adult High School Dropout | % Highly Educated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glencoe | 5,695 | 13.0% | 10.0% |
| 2 | Worthington | 13,780 | 28.0% | 17.0% |
| 3 | Faribault | 24,631 | 12.0% | 17.0% |
| 4 | Waite Park | 8,399 | 18.0% | 20.0% |
| 5 | Albert Lea | 18,330 | 11.0% | 17.0% |
| 6 | Princeton | 5,274 | 10.0% | 14.0% |
| 7 | Austin | 26,358 | 16.0% | 23.0% |
| 8 | Monticello | 14,858 | 13.0% | 23.0% |
| 9 | Brooklyn Center | 32,479 | 13.0% | 23.0% |
| 10 | Hibbing | 16,057 | 10.0% | 18.0% |
| 11 | Waseca | 9,164 | 8.0% | 16.0% |
| 12 | Willmar | 21,378 | 13.0% | 26.0% |
| 13 | Montevideo | 5,315 | 9.0% | 19.0% |
| 14 | Jordan | 6,771 | 10.0% | 24.0% |
| 15 | Litchfield | 6,576 | 8.0% | 17.0% |
| 16 | Spring Lake Park | 7,032 | 10.0% | 25.0% |
| 17 | Little Falls | 9,121 | 9.0% | 22.0% |
| 18 | Cloquet | 12,537 | 10.0% | 26.0% |
| 19 | St. Joseph | 7,021 | 11.0% | 28.0% |
| 20 | Cambridge | 10,307 | 8.0% | 18.0% |
| 21 | North St. Paul | 12,570 | 12.0% | 31.0% |
| 22 | Red Wing | 16,758 | 9.0% | 26.0% |
| 23 | Brooklyn Park | 83,876 | 12.0% | 32.0% |
| 24 | St. Cloud | 70,629 | 10.0% | 30.0% |
| 25 | Brainerd | 14,468 | 7.0% | 20.0% |
| 26 | St. Paul Park | 5,457 | 8.0% | 24.0% |
| 27 | New Ulm | 14,056 | 9.0% | 28.0% |
| 28 | Isanti | 7,210 | 8.0% | 25.0% |
| 29 | Redwood Falls | 5,068 | 7.0% | 24.0% |
| 30 | Fridley | 30,241 | 8.0% | 30.0% |
| 31 | Belle Plaine | 7,423 | 9.0% | 32.0% |
| 32 | Virginia | 8,332 | 6.0% | 20.0% |
| 33 | Zimmerman | 6,546 | 6.0% | 21.0% |
| 34 | Anoka | 17,970 | 7.0% | 26.0% |
| 35 | International Falls | 5,642 | 5.0% | 22.0% |
| 36 | Maplewood | 40,695 | 9.0% | 35.0% |
| 37 | Morris | 5,128 | 11.0% | 37.0% |
| 38 | Columbia Heights | 22,155 | 8.0% | 33.0% |
| 39 | Bemidji | 15,569 | 8.0% | 32.0% |
| 40 | St. Peter | 12,185 | 9.0% | 35.0% |
| 41 | Sauk Rapids | 13,852 | 7.0% | 29.0% |
| 42 | Thief River Falls | 8,823 | 5.0% | 21.0% |
| 43 | Shakopee | 46,012 | 10.0% | 39.0% |
| 44 | Mankato | 45,473 | 8.0% | 34.0% |
| 45 | St. Francis | 8,372 | 4.0% | 18.0% |
| 46 | Marshall | 13,896 | 8.0% | 36.0% |
| 47 | Detroit Lakes | 10,025 | 7.0% | 33.0% |
| 48 | Oakdale | 28,585 | 8.0% | 35.0% |
| 49 | North Branch | 11,565 | 4.0% | 18.0% |
| 50 | East Grand Forks | 9,028 | 5.0% | 26.0% |
| 51 | Fairmont | 10,296 | 5.0% | 26.0% |
| 52 | St. Paul | 307,284 | 11.0% | 44.0% |
| 53 | Crystal | 22,476 | 8.0% | 36.0% |
| 54 | Coon Rapids | 63,468 | 5.0% | 27.0% |
| 55 | Little Canada | 10,514 | 8.0% | 40.0% |
| 56 | Fergus Falls | 14,181 | 5.0% | 29.0% |
| 57 | Burnsville | 64,463 | 8.0% | 40.0% |
| 58 | Hastings | 22,117 | 5.0% | 30.0% |
| 59 | Dayton | 9,095 | 9.0% | 44.0% |
| 60 | South St. Paul | 20,611 | 6.0% | 34.0% |
| 61 | Becker | 5,034 | 3.0% | 20.0% |
| 62 | West St. Paul | 21,382 | 7.0% | 36.0% |
| 63 | New Hope | 21,181 | 6.0% | 35.0% |
| 64 | Hutchinson | 14,680 | 4.0% | 26.0% |
| 65 | Buffalo | 16,499 | 5.0% | 32.0% |
| 66 | East Bethel | 12,115 | 4.0% | 23.0% |
| 67 | Alexandria | 14,735 | 5.0% | 33.0% |
| 68 | Richfield | 36,642 | 8.0% | 44.0% |
| 69 | Mounds View | 12,926 | 6.0% | 37.0% |
| 70 | Ham Lake | 16,702 | 6.0% | 36.0% |
| 71 | Blaine | 72,488 | 6.0% | 37.0% |
| 72 | Elk River | 26,793 | 5.0% | 34.0% |
| 73 | Crookston | 7,344 | 5.0% | 35.0% |
| 74 | Owatonna | 26,498 | 4.0% | 30.0% |
| 75 | Sartell | 19,758 | 6.0% | 40.0% |
| 76 | Farmington | 23,902 | 6.0% | 40.0% |
| 77 | Forest Lake | 20,729 | 5.0% | 36.0% |
| 78 | Winona | 26,009 | 5.0% | 36.0% |
| 79 | La Crescent | 5,251 | 6.0% | 41.0% |
| 80 | Stewartville | 6,807 | 5.0% | 35.0% |
| 81 | Bloomington | 88,665 | 7.0% | 45.0% |
| 82 | Grand Rapids | 11,207 | 3.0% | 30.0% |
| 83 | Chaska | 28,706 | 7.0% | 46.0% |
| 84 | Oak Grove | 9,130 | 3.0% | 27.0% |
| 85 | Hopkins | 18,819 | 6.0% | 45.0% |
| 86 | Robbinsdale | 14,234 | 5.0% | 41.0% |
| 87 | Otsego | 22,245 | 5.0% | 41.0% |
| 88 | Kasson | 7,050 | 5.0% | 38.0% |
| 89 | New Brighton | 22,710 | 6.0% | 48.0% |
| 90 | Minneapolis | 427,246 | 8.0% | 55.0% |
| 91 | Wyoming | 8,087 | 4.0% | 37.0% |
| 92 | Elko New Market | 5,002 | 5.0% | 42.0% |
| 93 | Andover | 33,035 | 4.0% | 38.0% |
| 94 | Vadnais Heights | 12,838 | 5.0% | 46.0% |
| 95 | Apple Valley | 55,679 | 5.0% | 46.0% |
| 96 | New Prague | 8,237 | 2.0% | 32.0% |
| 97 | Cottage Grove | 40,992 | 4.0% | 42.0% |
| 98 | Duluth | 87,093 | 5.0% | 44.0% |
| 99 | North Mankato | 14,211 | 4.0% | 41.0% |
| 100 | Rochester | 122,330 | 5.0% | 51.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 148 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep
If you’re measuring the locations in Minnesota 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 Minnesota are Glencoe, Worthington, Faribault, Waite Park, Albert Lea, Princeton, Austin, Monticello, Brooklyn Center, and Hibbing. Not sold on Minnesota? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
