The 10 Dumbest Places In Virginia For 2026

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

A recent study we published found that Virginia is the 9th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 101.

But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in Virginia 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 Virginia

1. Big Stone Gap
2. Emporia
3. Covington
4. Front Royal
5. Richlands
6. Galax
7. Orange
8. Danville
9. Hopewell
10. Manassas Park

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 62 cities in Virginia to rank. You can take a look at the data below.

For more Virginia reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In Virginia
• Safest Places To Live In Virginia

The 10 Dumbest Places In Virginia For 2026

1. Big Stone Gap

Source: Wikipedia User KJPurscell | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,162
% Adult High School Dropout: 20.0%
% Highly Educated: 15.0%
More on Big Stone Gap: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

2. Emporia

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,547
% Adult High School Dropout: 19.0%
% Highly Educated: 16.0%
More on Emporia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

3. Covington

Source: Flickr User taberandrew | CC BY 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,680
% Adult High School Dropout: 14.0%
% Highly Educated: 9.0%
More on Covington: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

4. Front Royal

Source: Wikipedia User Jason Riedy | CC BY 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 15,296
% Adult High School Dropout: 16.0%
% Highly Educated: 19.0%
More on Front Royal: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

5. Richlands

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 4.0

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,171
% Adult High School Dropout: 13.0%
% Highly Educated: 13.0%
More on Richlands: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

6. Galax

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 6,726
% Adult High School Dropout: 15.0%
% Highly Educated: 19.0%
More on Galax: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

7. Orange

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,066
% Adult High School Dropout: 15.0%
% Highly Educated: 21.0%
More on Orange: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

8. Danville

Source: Wikipedia User Miguel Gereda | CC BY-SA 4.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 42,214
% Adult High School Dropout: 14.0%
% Highly Educated: 19.0%
More on Danville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

9. Hopewell

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 22,959
% Adult High School Dropout: 12.0%
% Highly Educated: 13.0%
More on Hopewell: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

10. Manassas Park

Source: Wikipedia User PierreSelim | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 16,798
% Adult High School Dropout: 23.0%
% Highly Educated: 27.0%
More on Manassas Park: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Old Dominion

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 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 Virginia from dumbest to brightest.

For this ranking, we used every 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 Virginia.

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

If you’re measuring the locations in 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 Virginia are Big Stone Gap, Emporia, Covington, Front Royal, Richlands, Galax, Orange, Danville, Hopewell, and Manassas Park.

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

1. Blacksburg
2. Vienna
3. Falls Church

For more Virginia reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In Virginia
• Cheapest Places To Live In Virginia
• Most Dangerous Cities In Virginia
• Richest Cities In Virginia
• Safest Places In Virginia
• Worst Cities In Virginia For 2017
• Most Expensive Places To Live In Virginia

Dumbest Cities In Virginia For 2026