The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Magnolia 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 Mississippi have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.
A recent study we published found that Mississippi is the 50th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 94.
But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in Mississippi are a bit slower than others due to a lack of basic education.
#1 dumbest in Mississippi
Located in
Jackson County, Mississippi
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 dumbest in Mississippi
Located in
Marshall County, Mississippi
Holly Springs is a city in and county seat of Marshall County, Mississippi, United States at the border with southern Tennessee.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 dumbest in Mississippi
Located in
Clay County, Mississippi
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 dumbest in Mississippi
Located in
Scott County, Mississippi
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#5 dumbest in Mississippi
Located in
Marion County, Mississippi
Columbia is a city in Marion County, Mississippi, which was formed six years before Mississippi was admitted to statehood. Columbia was named for Columbia, South Carolina, from which many of the early settlers had migrated. The population was 6,603 as of the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marion County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 dumbest in Mississippi
Located in
Pike County, Mississippi
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#7 dumbest in Mississippi
Located in
Sunflower County, Mississippi
Indianola is a city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, United States, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 12,066 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Sunflower County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#8 dumbest in Mississippi
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#9 dumbest in Mississippi
Located in
Coahoma County, Mississippi
Clarksdale is a city in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States, and seat of the county.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 dumbest in Mississippi
Located in
Winston County, Mississippi
Louisville is a city in Winston County, Mississippi. The population was 7,006 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Winston County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Mississippi’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Mississippi’s dumbest cities are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Magnolia 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 Mississippi:
- % 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 Mississippi from dumbest to brightest.
For this ranking, we used every Mississippi city with at least 5,000 residents. We updated this article for 2026, and it’s our eleventh time ranking the dumbest cities in Mississippi.
The full plate
Dumbest Cities In Mississippi For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | % Adult High School Dropout | % Highly Educated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moss Point | 11,957 | 19.0% | 13.0% |
| 2 | Holly Springs | 6,704 | 19.0% | 14.0% |
| 3 | West Point | 9,900 | 20.0% | 16.0% |
| 4 | Forest | 5,357 | 27.0% | 20.0% |
| 5 | Columbia | 6,632 | 17.0% | 15.0% |
| 6 | McComb | 12,049 | 15.0% | 15.0% |
| 7 | Indianola | 9,062 | 21.0% | 20.0% |
| 8 | Ripley | 5,377 | 25.0% | 21.0% |
| 9 | Clarksdale | 14,231 | 19.0% | 19.0% |
| 10 | Louisville | 5,983 | 14.0% | 16.0% |
| 11 | Horn Lake | 26,647 | 14.0% | 16.0% |
| 12 | Greenville | 28,166 | 19.0% | 22.0% |
| 13 | Richland | 7,346 | 14.0% | 20.0% |
| 14 | Meridian | 34,137 | 15.0% | 22.0% |
| 15 | Canton | 10,811 | 24.0% | 26.0% |
| 16 | Greenwood | 14,086 | 17.0% | 24.0% |
| 17 | Picayune | 11,900 | 12.0% | 17.0% |
| 18 | Laurel | 17,679 | 13.0% | 21.0% |
| 19 | Kosciusko | 6,933 | 12.0% | 19.0% |
| 20 | Brookhaven | 11,650 | 14.0% | 22.0% |
| 21 | Corinth | 14,323 | 16.0% | 26.0% |
| 22 | Gautier | 19,046 | 13.0% | 22.0% |
| 23 | Philadelphia | 6,996 | 15.0% | 26.0% |
| 24 | New Albany | 7,663 | 15.0% | 26.0% |
| 25 | Amory | 6,500 | 10.0% | 18.0% |
| 26 | Gulfport | 73,003 | 13.0% | 24.0% |
| 27 | Pontotoc | 5,806 | 12.0% | 25.0% |
| 28 | Jackson | 146,631 | 14.0% | 28.0% |
| 29 | Waveland | 7,062 | 11.0% | 24.0% |
| 30 | Vicksburg | 20,589 | 13.0% | 27.0% |
| 31 | Pascagoula | 21,710 | 10.0% | 22.0% |
| 32 | Columbus | 23,348 | 12.0% | 26.0% |
| 33 | Natchez | 14,192 | 12.0% | 27.0% |
| 34 | Grenada | 12,375 | 11.0% | 25.0% |
| 35 | D’Iberville | 13,203 | 9.0% | 25.0% |
| 36 | Pearl | 27,737 | 11.0% | 29.0% |
| 37 | Tupelo | 37,791 | 11.0% | 34.0% |
| 38 | Biloxi | 48,861 | 11.0% | 31.0% |
| 39 | Senatobia | 8,380 | 10.0% | 29.0% |
| 40 | Booneville | 9,246 | 10.0% | 29.0% |
| 41 | Petal | 11,294 | 9.0% | 27.0% |
| 42 | Cleveland | 10,623 | 11.0% | 36.0% |
| 43 | Batesville | 7,387 | 9.0% | 30.0% |
| 44 | Hernando | 17,949 | 10.0% | 35.0% |
| 45 | Southaven | 56,226 | 6.0% | 29.0% |
| 46 | Diamondhead | 9,338 | 10.0% | 41.0% |
| 47 | Olive Branch | 47,019 | 7.0% | 31.0% |
| 48 | Bay St. Louis | 10,188 | 9.0% | 39.0% |
| 49 | Hattiesburg | 48,619 | 8.0% | 37.0% |
| 50 | Byram | 12,799 | 6.0% | 33.0% |
| 51 | Long Beach | 17,009 | 6.0% | 35.0% |
| 52 | Starkville | 25,721 | 6.0% | 51.0% |
| 53 | Ocean Springs | 18,646 | 6.0% | 47.0% |
| 54 | Oxford | 26,411 | 8.0% | 57.0% |
| 55 | Pass Christian | 6,097 | 5.0% | 46.0% |
| 56 | Clinton | 27,195 | 5.0% | 48.0% |
| 57 | Brandon | 25,542 | 4.0% | 41.0% |
| 58 | Flowood | 10,587 | 5.0% | 54.0% |
| 59 | Ridgeland | 24,587 | 4.0% | 53.0% |
| 60 | Madison | 27,946 | 4.0% | 64.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 60 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep
If you’re measuring the locations in Mississippi 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 Mississippi are Moss Point, Holly Springs, West Point, Forest, Columbia, McComb, Indianola, Ripley, Clarksdale, and Louisville. Not sold on Mississippi? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
