The 10 Dumbest Places In Minnesota For 2026

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 3rd smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 102.

But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in Minnesota 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 148 cities in Minnesota to rank. You can take a look at the data below.

For more Minnesota reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In Minnesota
• Safest Places To Live In Minnesota

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.

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.

If you’re also curious enough, here are the smartest places in Minnesota, according to science:

1. Minnetrista
2. Orono
3. North Oaks

For more Minnesota reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In Minnesota
• Cheapest Places To Live In Minnesota
• Most Dangerous Cities In Minnesota
• Richest Cities In Minnesota
• Safest Places In Minnesota
• Worst Places To Live In Minnesota
• Most Expensive Places To Live In Minnesota

Dumbest Cities In Minnesota For 2026