The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Golden 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 California have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.
A recent study we published found that California is the 48th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 95.
But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in California are a bit slower than others due to a lack of basic education.
#1 dumbest in California
Located in
Fresno County, CaliforniaHuron is a small city in Fresno County, California, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,754, up from 6,306 at the 2000 census. During the harvest season, the population swells to over 15,000 people due to the influx of migrant farm workers. Huron is located 15 miles east-northeast of Coalinga, at an elevation of 374 feet. Huron was the city with the highest proportion of Hispanic or Latino people in the United States, according to the 2000 United States Census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 dumbest in California
Located in
Kings County, CaliforniaData | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 dumbest in California
Located in
Fresno County, CaliforniaFirebaugh is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 7,549 at the 2010 census, up from 5,743 as of the 2000 census. The ZIP Code for the community is 93622 and the city is located inside area code 559. Firebaugh is located on the west side of the San Joaquin River 38 miles west of Fresno, at an elevation of 151 feet. Inside the city, a small commercial district includes the ubiquitous California Central Valley water tank painted with the city’s name. State Route 33 runs through downtown just west of center. The San Joaquin Valley Railroad, West Side Subdivision, passes through downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 dumbest in California
Located in
Fresno County, CaliforniaMendota is a U.S. city in Fresno County, California. The population was 11,014 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The State Routes 180 and 33 run through the agricultural city. Mendota is located 8.5 miles south-southeast of Firebaugh, at an elevation of 174 feet.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#5 dumbest in California
Located in
Kern County, CaliforniaArvin is a city in Kern County, California. Arvin is located 15 miles southeast of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 449 feet. As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,304, up from 12,956 at the 2000 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 dumbest in California
Located in
Los Angeles County, CaliforniaBell Gardens is a city in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 42,072 at the 2010 census, down from 44,054 at the 2000 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#7 dumbest in California
Located in
Monterey County, CaliforniaSoledad is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. Soledad is located 25 miles southeast of Salinas, at an elevation of 190 feet. The population was 25,738 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#8 dumbest in California
Located in
Tulare County, CaliforniaFarmersville is a city in the San Joaquin Valley in Tulare County, California, United States, just to the east of Visalia, California. The population was 10,588 at the 2010 census, up from 8,737 at the 2000 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#9 dumbest in California
Located in
Imperial County, CaliforniaCalipatria is a city in Imperial County, California. Calipatria is located 23 miles north of El Centro. It is part of the El Centro Metropolitan Area. The population was 7,710 at the 2010 census, up from 7,289 at the 2000 census, including 4000 inmates at Calipatria State Prison. The community is located along State Route 111.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 dumbest in California
Located in
Los Angeles County, CaliforniaMaywood is a small city in southeast Los Angeles County, California. At 1.18 square miles, Maywood is the third-smallest incorporated city in Los Angeles County. It is bordered by the cities of Bell on the south, Vernon on the north and west, Huntington Park on the southwest, and Commerce on the east. It is the most densely-populated city in California, and has the highest proportion of Latinos, immigrants, and undocumented immigrants in the county.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is California’s statewide median.
On the map
Where California’s dumbest cities are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Golden 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 California:
- % 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 California from dumbest to brightest.
For this ranking, we used every California city with at least 5,000 residents. We updated this article for 2026, and it’s our eleventh time ranking the dumbest cities in California.
The full plate
Dumbest Cities In California For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | % Adult High School Dropout | % Highly Educated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huron | 6,519 | 56.0% | 3.0% |
| 2 | Avenal | 13,608 | 50.0% | 2.0% |
| 3 | Firebaugh | 8,392 | 53.0% | 4.0% |
| 4 | Mendota | 12,577 | 59.0% | 5.0% |
| 5 | Arvin | 19,539 | 52.0% | 5.0% |
| 6 | Bell Gardens | 38,229 | 48.0% | 7.0% |
| 7 | Soledad | 26,365 | 43.0% | 6.0% |
| 8 | Farmersville | 10,397 | 44.0% | 6.0% |
| 9 | Calipatria | 6,548 | 41.0% | 4.0% |
| 10 | Maywood | 24,317 | 49.0% | 8.0% |
| 11 | Cudahy | 22,087 | 43.0% | 6.0% |
| 12 | Coachella | 43,307 | 45.0% | 7.0% |
| 13 | Parlier | 14,507 | 43.0% | 6.0% |
| 14 | Huntington Park | 53,108 | 47.0% | 8.0% |
| 15 | McFarland | 14,222 | 41.0% | 6.0% |
| 16 | Corcoran | 22,491 | 37.0% | 3.0% |
| 17 | Guadalupe | 8,566 | 47.0% | 9.0% |
| 18 | Lindsay | 12,643 | 37.0% | 5.0% |
| 19 | Orange Cove | 9,695 | 52.0% | 11.0% |
| 20 | South El Monte | 19,287 | 45.0% | 10.0% |
| 21 | Wasco | 26,558 | 37.0% | 6.0% |
| 22 | Bell | 32,476 | 43.0% | 9.0% |
| 23 | Delano | 51,679 | 39.0% | 8.0% |
| 24 | Woodlake | 7,702 | 43.0% | 10.0% |
| 25 | Gonzales | 8,492 | 40.0% | 9.0% |
| 26 | Livingston | 14,606 | 45.0% | 11.0% |
| 27 | Lynwood | 64,578 | 40.0% | 9.0% |
| 28 | South Gate | 91,483 | 41.0% | 11.0% |
| 29 | Commerce | 11,993 | 38.0% | 10.0% |
| 30 | Blythe | 17,396 | 32.0% | 8.0% |
| 31 | Madera | 67,831 | 38.0% | 11.0% |
| 32 | Compton | 92,698 | 35.0% | 10.0% |
| 33 | Watsonville | 51,712 | 36.0% | 11.0% |
| 34 | Adelanto | 37,964 | 27.0% | 7.0% |
| 35 | Waterford | 9,204 | 29.0% | 9.0% |
| 36 | Selma | 24,659 | 30.0% | 10.0% |
| 37 | Dos Palos | 5,765 | 29.0% | 10.0% |
| 38 | La Puente | 37,142 | 36.0% | 13.0% |
| 39 | Susanville | 14,177 | 29.0% | 11.0% |
| 40 | Coalinga | 17,203 | 30.0% | 12.0% |
| 41 | San Fernando | 23,632 | 37.0% | 14.0% |
| 42 | Williams | 5,585 | 35.0% | 14.0% |
| 43 | Santa Maria | 110,462 | 38.0% | 15.0% |
| 44 | Baldwin Park | 70,138 | 32.0% | 14.0% |
| 45 | Gustine | 6,133 | 24.0% | 8.0% |
| 46 | Shafter | 21,193 | 27.0% | 12.0% |
| 47 | El Monte | 106,109 | 36.0% | 15.0% |
| 48 | Santa Paula | 31,376 | 32.0% | 14.0% |
| 49 | Orland | 8,357 | 27.0% | 12.0% |
| 50 | Perris | 80,511 | 27.0% | 12.0% |
| 51 | Salinas | 161,761 | 38.0% | 16.0% |
| 52 | Los Banos | 47,593 | 28.0% | 13.0% |
| 53 | Paramount | 52,050 | 32.0% | 15.0% |
| 54 | Ceres | 49,342 | 27.0% | 13.0% |
| 55 | Rialto | 104,143 | 25.0% | 12.0% |
| 56 | Hesperia | 100,775 | 24.0% | 11.0% |
| 57 | Lompoc | 43,646 | 26.0% | 13.0% |
| 58 | El Centro | 44,240 | 27.0% | 14.0% |
| 59 | Porterville | 63,157 | 30.0% | 15.0% |
| 60 | Atwater | 32,162 | 26.0% | 13.0% |
| 61 | Reedley | 25,609 | 32.0% | 16.0% |
| 62 | Brawley | 27,283 | 28.0% | 15.0% |
| 63 | Tulare | 70,945 | 24.0% | 12.0% |
| 64 | Chowchilla | 19,020 | 28.0% | 15.0% |
| 65 | Newman | 12,316 | 23.0% | 11.0% |
| 66 | Kerman | 16,815 | 34.0% | 17.0% |
| 67 | Sanger | 26,699 | 25.0% | 13.0% |
| 68 | San Bernardino | 222,724 | 25.0% | 13.0% |
| 69 | Holtville | 5,617 | 29.0% | 16.0% |
| 70 | Hawaiian Gardens | 13,691 | 32.0% | 17.0% |
| 71 | Calexico | 38,585 | 36.0% | 19.0% |
| 72 | Santa Ana | 312,534 | 33.0% | 18.0% |
| 73 | Dinuba | 25,475 | 26.0% | 15.0% |
| 74 | Patterson | 24,693 | 25.0% | 14.0% |
| 75 | Jurupa Valley | 107,011 | 26.0% | 15.0% |
| 76 | Clearlake | 16,659 | 19.0% | 8.0% |
| 77 | Oxnard | 200,928 | 31.0% | 19.0% |
| 78 | Taft | 7,125 | 18.0% | 9.0% |
| 79 | Gridley | 7,330 | 21.0% | 13.0% |
| 80 | Pico Rivera | 60,272 | 27.0% | 17.0% |
| 81 | San Pablo | 31,720 | 25.0% | 16.0% |
| 82 | Colton | 53,772 | 25.0% | 16.0% |
| 83 | Victorville | 137,627 | 20.0% | 13.0% |
| 84 | Rosemead | 50,013 | 33.0% | 22.0% |
| 85 | Corning | 8,155 | 22.0% | 15.0% |
| 86 | Stanton | 39,402 | 29.0% | 21.0% |
| 87 | San Jacinto | 55,180 | 21.0% | 14.0% |
| 88 | Colusa | 6,505 | 23.0% | 16.0% |
| 89 | Willows | 6,190 | 23.0% | 16.0% |
| 90 | Lawndale | 30,781 | 27.0% | 21.0% |
| 91 | Indio | 91,950 | 26.0% | 20.0% |
| 92 | Montclair | 37,810 | 25.0% | 19.0% |
| 93 | Palmdale | 164,634 | 23.0% | 17.0% |
| 94 | Tehachapi | 11,946 | 21.0% | 16.0% |
| 95 | Fillmore | 16,816 | 20.0% | 16.0% |
| 96 | Oroville | 19,752 | 17.0% | 13.0% |
| 97 | Pomona | 147,943 | 25.0% | 21.0% |
| 98 | Merced | 91,953 | 23.0% | 20.0% |
| 99 | Montebello | 61,045 | 26.0% | 23.0% |
| 100 | Stockton | 322,326 | 22.0% | 20.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 411 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep
If you’re measuring the locations in California 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 California are Huron, Avenal, Firebaugh, Mendota, Arvin, Bell Gardens, Soledad, Farmersville, Calipatria, and Maywood. Not sold on California? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
