The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Show Me 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 Missouri have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.
A recent study we published found that Missouri is the 25th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 101.
But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in Missouri are a bit slower than others due to a lack of basic education.
#1 dumbest in Missouri
Located in
St. Louis County, Missouri
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 dumbest in Missouri
Located in
Pemiscot County, Missouri
Caruthersville is a city in and the county seat of Pemiscot County, Missouri, United States, located along the Mississippi River in the Bootheel region of the state’s far southeast. The population was 6,168, according to the 2010 Census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 dumbest in Missouri
Located in
Lawrence County, Missouri
Aurora is a city in Lawrence County, Missouri, United States. The population was 7,508 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 dumbest in Missouri
Located in
Butler County, Missouri
Poplar Bluff is a small city in Butler County in Southeast Missouri in the United States. It is the county seat of Butler County and is known as “The Gateway to the Ozarks” among other names. The population was 17,023 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#5 dumbest in Missouri
Located in
Dunklin County, Missouri
Kennett is a city in and the county seat of Dunklin County, Missouri, United States. The city is located in the southeast corner of Missouri, 4 miles east of Arkansas and 20 miles from the Mississippi River. It has a population of 10,932 according to the 2010 Census. It is the largest city in the Bootheel, a mostly agricultural area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 dumbest in Missouri
Located in
St. Francois County, Missouri
Park Hills is a city in St. Francois County, Missouri. The population was 8,759 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#7 dumbest in Missouri
Located in
Warren County, Missouri
Warrenton is a city in Warren County, Missouri, United States. The population was 7,880 according to the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Warrenton is located in the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. Warrenton’s slogan is “A City for All Seasons.”
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#8 dumbest in Missouri
Located in
Lawrence County, Missouri
Monett is a city in Monett Township in Barry County and Pierce Township in Lawrence County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,873 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#9 dumbest in Missouri
Located in
St. Francois County, Missouri
Bonne Terre is a city in St. Francois County, Missouri, United States. The population was 6,864 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 dumbest in Missouri
Located in
Livingston County, Missouri
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Missouri’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Missouri’s dumbest cities are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Show Me 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 Missouri:
- % 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 Missouri from dumbest to brightest.
For this ranking, we used every Missouri city with at least 5,000 residents. We updated this article for 2026, and it’s our eleventh time ranking the dumbest cities in Missouri.
The full plate
Dumbest Cities In Missouri For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | % Adult High School Dropout | % Highly Educated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jennings | 12,918 | 17.0% | 11.0% |
| 2 | Caruthersville | 5,326 | 18.0% | 12.0% |
| 3 | Aurora | 7,397 | 16.0% | 12.0% |
| 4 | Poplar Bluff | 16,254 | 17.0% | 14.0% |
| 5 | Kennett | 10,196 | 19.0% | 15.0% |
| 6 | Park Hills | 8,678 | 15.0% | 14.0% |
| 7 | Warrenton | 9,066 | 13.0% | 12.0% |
| 8 | Monett | 9,873 | 14.0% | 14.0% |
| 9 | Bonne Terre | 6,683 | 16.0% | 15.0% |
| 10 | Chillicothe | 8,923 | 16.0% | 17.0% |
| 11 | Cameron | 8,519 | 12.0% | 13.0% |
| 12 | Berkeley | 8,123 | 14.0% | 15.0% |
| 13 | Moberly | 13,526 | 13.0% | 15.0% |
| 14 | Dexter | 7,891 | 14.0% | 17.0% |
| 15 | Lebanon | 15,270 | 15.0% | 18.0% |
| 16 | Oak Grove | 8,538 | 12.0% | 15.0% |
| 17 | Fulton | 12,617 | 16.0% | 20.0% |
| 18 | West Plains | 12,441 | 14.0% | 18.0% |
| 19 | Excelsior Springs | 10,484 | 13.0% | 17.0% |
| 20 | Sedalia | 22,003 | 13.0% | 17.0% |
| 21 | Carthage | 15,574 | 25.0% | 23.0% |
| 22 | Neosho | 13,224 | 16.0% | 21.0% |
| 23 | Farmington | 18,282 | 12.0% | 17.0% |
| 24 | St. John | 6,527 | 14.0% | 20.0% |
| 25 | Mexico | 11,477 | 12.0% | 17.0% |
| 26 | Perryville | 8,536 | 14.0% | 20.0% |
| 27 | Richmond | 5,959 | 9.0% | 14.0% |
| 28 | Harrisonville | 9,970 | 10.0% | 15.0% |
| 29 | Bellefontaine Neighbors | 10,498 | 11.0% | 17.0% |
| 30 | Nevada | 7,925 | 9.0% | 14.0% |
| 31 | De Soto | 6,470 | 8.0% | 11.0% |
| 32 | Hannibal | 16,771 | 12.0% | 19.0% |
| 33 | Pacific | 7,475 | 12.0% | 21.0% |
| 34 | Marshfield | 7,696 | 11.0% | 19.0% |
| 35 | Clinton | 9,065 | 9.0% | 16.0% |
| 36 | Troy | 13,947 | 8.0% | 14.0% |
| 37 | St. Ann | 12,811 | 11.0% | 20.0% |
| 38 | Trenton | 5,536 | 10.0% | 19.0% |
| 39 | Pevely | 6,055 | 10.0% | 19.0% |
| 40 | Marshall | 13,739 | 14.0% | 26.0% |
| 41 | St. Joseph | 71,236 | 11.0% | 23.0% |
| 42 | Independence | 121,740 | 11.0% | 22.0% |
| 43 | Boonville | 7,689 | 11.0% | 22.0% |
| 44 | Grandview | 26,527 | 12.0% | 25.0% |
| 45 | Ferguson | 18,213 | 10.0% | 21.0% |
| 46 | Arnold | 20,956 | 11.0% | 24.0% |
| 47 | Overland | 15,695 | 13.0% | 29.0% |
| 48 | Sullivan | 6,310 | 8.0% | 19.0% |
| 49 | Festus | 13,201 | 11.0% | 25.0% |
| 50 | Ste. Genevieve | 5,010 | 5.0% | 15.0% |
| 51 | Bolivar | 11,170 | 11.0% | 27.0% |
| 52 | Union | 12,781 | 9.0% | 24.0% |
| 53 | Macon | 5,466 | 8.0% | 22.0% |
| 54 | Raytown | 29,445 | 8.0% | 23.0% |
| 55 | Sikeston | 16,320 | 10.0% | 28.0% |
| 56 | Ozark | 22,417 | 9.0% | 30.0% |
| 57 | Branson | 12,817 | 9.0% | 27.0% |
| 58 | Joplin | 52,593 | 9.0% | 27.0% |
| 59 | Savannah | 5,053 | 7.0% | 26.0% |
| 60 | Belton | 25,008 | 7.0% | 26.0% |
| 61 | Hazelwood | 25,114 | 8.0% | 28.0% |
| 62 | Bridgeton | 11,369 | 10.0% | 36.0% |
| 63 | Black Jack | 6,589 | 8.0% | 31.0% |
| 64 | Peculiar | 5,958 | 6.0% | 26.0% |
| 65 | Rolla | 20,287 | 9.0% | 35.0% |
| 66 | Cape Girardeau | 40,344 | 9.0% | 35.0% |
| 67 | Republic | 19,829 | 5.0% | 26.0% |
| 68 | Gladstone | 27,207 | 7.0% | 31.0% |
| 69 | Florissant | 51,773 | 5.0% | 24.0% |
| 70 | Herculaneum | 5,071 | 5.0% | 24.0% |
| 71 | St. Robert | 5,356 | 7.0% | 32.0% |
| 72 | Smithville | 10,705 | 7.0% | 32.0% |
| 73 | Springfield | 169,954 | 7.0% | 32.0% |
| 74 | St. Louis | 288,512 | 9.0% | 41.0% |
| 75 | Waynesville | 5,442 | 6.0% | 31.0% |
| 76 | Grain Valley | 16,271 | 5.0% | 28.0% |
| 77 | Odessa | 5,620 | 6.0% | 31.0% |
| 78 | Jackson | 15,659 | 6.0% | 36.0% |
| 79 | Warrensburg | 19,582 | 7.0% | 37.0% |
| 80 | Pleasant Hill | 8,847 | 5.0% | 32.0% |
| 81 | Maryville | 10,428 | 5.0% | 35.0% |
| 82 | Nixa | 24,836 | 5.0% | 37.0% |
| 83 | Valley Park | 6,795 | 7.0% | 44.0% |
| 84 | Washington | 15,130 | 4.0% | 33.0% |
| 85 | Kirksville | 17,563 | 5.0% | 41.0% |
| 86 | Blue Springs | 59,965 | 4.0% | 35.0% |
| 87 | Wentzville | 47,061 | 5.0% | 40.0% |
| 88 | Kearney | 10,885 | 4.0% | 36.0% |
| 89 | Greenwood | 6,013 | 3.0% | 34.0% |
| 90 | Maryland Heights | 27,880 | 5.0% | 51.0% |
| 91 | St. Charles | 71,508 | 5.0% | 43.0% |
| 92 | O’Fallon | 93,801 | 5.0% | 43.0% |
| 93 | St. Peters | 59,092 | 4.0% | 39.0% |
| 94 | Liberty | 30,689 | 4.0% | 40.0% |
| 95 | Willard | 6,488 | 2.0% | 34.0% |
| 96 | Raymore | 24,526 | 3.0% | 37.0% |
| 97 | Columbia | 128,548 | 5.0% | 57.0% |
| 98 | Eureka | 13,081 | 4.0% | 52.0% |
| 99 | Lake St. Louis | 18,066 | 3.0% | 51.0% |
| 100 | Maplewood | 8,156 | 3.0% | 53.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 126 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep
If you’re measuring the locations in Missouri 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 Missouri are Jennings, Caruthersville, Aurora, Poplar Bluff, Kennett, Park Hills, Warrenton, Monett, Bonne Terre, and Chillicothe. Not sold on Missouri? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
