The 10 Dumbest Places In Kansas For 2026

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Sunflower 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 Kansas have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.

A recent study we published found that Kansas is the 21st smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 100.

But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in Kansas are a bit slower than others due to a lack of basic education.

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Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

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The 10 Dumbest Places In Kansas

1. Liberal
2. Coffeyville
3. Great Bend
4. Parsons
5. Hutchinson
6. Ulysses
7. Emporia
8. Wellington
9. Pratt
10. Chanute

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 57 cities in Kansas to rank. You can take a look at the data below.

For more Kansas reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In Kansas
• Safest Places To Live In Kansas

The 10 Dumbest Places In Kansas For 2026

1. Liberal

Source: Wikipedia User Billy Hathorn | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 19,316
% Adult High School Dropout: 30.0%
% Highly Educated: 9.0%
More on Liberal: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

2. Coffeyville

Source: Wikipedia User City of Coffeyville | CC BY-SA 4.0

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 8,662
% Adult High School Dropout: 13.0%
% Highly Educated: 14.0%
More on Coffeyville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

3. Great Bend

Source: Wikipedia User Paul Sableman | CC BY 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 14,479
% Adult High School Dropout: 14.0%
% Highly Educated: 19.0%
More on Great Bend: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

4. Parsons

Source: Wikipedia User Kaethesson | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 9,425
% Adult High School Dropout: 13.0%
% Highly Educated: 21.0%
More on Parsons: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

5. Hutchinson

Source: Wikipedia User Hellbus | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 39,709
% Adult High School Dropout: 11.0%
% Highly Educated: 19.0%
More on Hutchinson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

6. Ulysses

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,476
% Adult High School Dropout: 25.0%
% Highly Educated: 25.0%
More on Ulysses: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

7. Emporia

Source: Wikipedia User Ethan James Scherrer | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 24,131
% Adult High School Dropout: 12.0%
% Highly Educated: 24.0%
More on Emporia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

8. Wellington

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 7,615
% Adult High School Dropout: 9.0%
% Highly Educated: 21.0%
More on Wellington: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

9. Pratt

Source: Wikipedia User Ichabod | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,577
% Adult High School Dropout: 10.0%
% Highly Educated: 24.0%
More on Pratt: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

10. Chanute

Source: Wikipedia User Ichabod | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 8,598
% Adult High School Dropout: 9.0%
% Highly Educated: 21.0%
More on Chanute: Data | Cost Of Living | Movers

Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Sunflower 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 Kansas:

• % 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 Kansas from dumbest to brightest.

For this ranking, we used every Kansas city with at least 5,000 residents. We updated this article for 2026, and it’s our eleventh time ranking the dumbest cities in Kansas.

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

If you’re measuring the locations in Kansas 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 Kansas are Liberal, Coffeyville, Great Bend, Parsons, Hutchinson, Ulysses, Emporia, Wellington, Pratt, and Chanute.

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

1. Leawood
2. Overland Park
3. Mission

For more Kansas reading, check out:

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

Dumbest Cities In Kansas For 2026