The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Mountain 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 West Virginia have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.
A recent study we published found that West Virginia is the 37th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 98.
But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in West Virginia are a bit slower than others due to a lack of basic education.
#1 dumbest in West Virginia
Located in
Fayette County, West Virginia
Oak Hill is a city in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States and is the primary city within the Oak Hill, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area. The micropolitan area is also included in the Beckley-Oak Hill, WV Combined Statistical Area. The population was 7,730 at the 2010 census. Country singer Hank Williams was discovered to be dead while the car in which he was a passenger was stopped in Oak Hill, and Oak Hill is generally accepted to be his place of death.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 dumbest in West Virginia
Located in
Putnam County, West Virginia
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 dumbest in West Virginia
Located in
Wood County, West Virginia
Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia, United States. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state’s third-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metropolitan area. The population was 31,492 at the 2010 census. Its peak of population was more than 44,000 in 1960. The city is about 14 miles south of Marietta, Ohio.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 dumbest in West Virginia
Located in
Marshall County, West Virginia
Moundsville is a city in Marshall County, West Virginia, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia metropolitan area. The population was 9,318 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County. The city was named for the nearby ancient Grave Creek Mound, constructed 250 to 100 BC by indigenous people of the Adena culture.
Moundsville was settled in 1771 by English colonists Samuel and James Tomlinson. Fostoria Glass Company was headquartered in Moundsville from 1891 to 1986. The retired West Virginia State Penitentiary operated in Moundsville from 1867 to 1995.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#5 dumbest in West Virginia
Located in
Harrison County, West Virginia
Clarksburg is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, in the north-central region of the state. The population of the city was 16,578 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 94,221 in 2014. Clarksburg was named National Small City of the Year in 2011 by the National League of Cities.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 dumbest in West Virginia
Located in
Mercer County, West Virginia
Princeton, often referred to as the “Jewel of the South,” is a city in and the county seat of Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 6,432 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,342. The town hosts the Princeton Rays baseball club of the Appalachian League.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#7 dumbest in West Virginia
Located in
Berkeley County, West Virginia
Martinsburg is a city in and the county seat of Berkeley County, West Virginia, United States, in the tip of the state’s Eastern Panhandle region. Its population was 17,687 in the 2016 census estimate, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the ninth-largest municipality in the state. Martinsburg is part of the Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#8 dumbest in West Virginia
Located in
Upshur County, West Virginia
Buckhannon is the only incorporated city in, and the county seat of, Upshur County, West Virginia, United States, and is located along the Buckhannon River. The population was 5,639 at the 2010 census. Buckhannon is home to West Virginia Wesleyan College and the West Virginia Strawberry Festival, held annually on the third week of May. The city is located 115 miles northeast from the capital city of Charleston and 140 miles south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#9 dumbest in West Virginia
New Martinsville is a city in Wetzel County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 5,366 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Wetzel County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 dumbest in West Virginia
Located in
Mercer County, West Virginia
Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 10,447 at the 2010 census. It is the core city of the Bluefield WV-VA micropolitan area, which has a population of 107,342.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is West Virginia’s statewide median.
On the map
Where West Virginia’s dumbest cities are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Mountain 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 West Virginia:
- % 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 West Virginia from dumbest to brightest.
For this ranking, we used every West Virginia city with at least 5,000 residents. We updated this article for 2026, and it’s our eleventh time ranking the dumbest cities in West Virginia.
The full plate
Dumbest Cities In West Virginia For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | % Adult High School Dropout | % Highly Educated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oak Hill | 7,937 | 16.0% | 15.0% |
| 2 | Nitro | 6,853 | 11.0% | 16.0% |
| 3 | Parkersburg | 29,240 | 14.0% | 21.0% |
| 4 | Moundsville | 7,869 | 9.0% | 17.0% |
| 5 | Clarksburg | 15,549 | 12.0% | 26.0% |
| 6 | Princeton | 5,736 | 8.0% | 21.0% |
| 7 | Martinsburg | 18,904 | 10.0% | 25.0% |
| 8 | Buckhannon | 5,116 | 10.0% | 25.0% |
| 9 | New Martinsville | 5,133 | 7.0% | 23.0% |
| 10 | Bluefield | 9,387 | 11.0% | 30.0% |
| 11 | Huntington | 45,787 | 12.0% | 34.0% |
| 12 | Beckley | 16,818 | 9.0% | 29.0% |
| 13 | Elkins | 6,811 | 10.0% | 32.0% |
| 14 | St. Albans | 10,522 | 6.0% | 24.0% |
| 15 | Dunbar | 7,254 | 7.0% | 28.0% |
| 16 | Weirton | 18,647 | 4.0% | 24.0% |
| 17 | Wheeling | 26,350 | 8.0% | 34.0% |
| 18 | Fairmont | 18,221 | 6.0% | 33.0% |
| 19 | Vienna | 10,518 | 5.0% | 31.0% |
| 20 | Morgantown | 30,236 | 6.0% | 58.0% |
| 21 | Charleston | 47,421 | 6.0% | 46.0% |
| 22 | South Charleston | 13,457 | 4.0% | 38.0% |
| 23 | Hurricane | 6,855 | 3.0% | 38.0% |
| 24 | Bridgeport | 9,252 | 4.0% | 53.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 24 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep
If you’re measuring the locations in West Virginia 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 West Virginia are Oak Hill, Nitro, Parkersburg, Moundsville, Clarksburg, Princeton, Martinsburg, Buckhannon, New Martinsville, and Bluefield. Not sold on West Virginia? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
