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Now This Is Just Crazy, A Publication Describes This South Carolina City As One Of The Least Educated

Well, this isn’t what you want to hear. A South Carolina city was named amongst the least educated in America according to data from USA By The Numbers. To be…

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Well, this isn't what you want to hear. A South Carolina city was named amongst the least educated in America according to data from USA By The Numbers. To be fair the methodology was not included in this article, but by reading the introduction to this list I would wager it is based on the percentage of people with post-secondary education. I came to this conclusion based on the following sentence. "A stronger local economy and a better workforce are the results of a higher proportion of the population with postsecondary education or training. It may also be indicative of the quality of the local public school system." The author goes on to say you may want to avoid these cities.

So which South Carolina city is supposedly the least educated? According to USA By The Numbers North Charleston ranked 14th on this list.

  1. Dalton, GA
  2. Merced, CA
  3. McCallen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
  4. Visalia-Porterville, CA
  5. Salinas, CA
  6. Ocala, FL
  7. Corpus Christi, TX
  8. Laredo, TX
  9. Fresno, CA
  10. Lafayette, LA
  11. Hickory, NC
  12. Beaumont, TX
  13. Modesto, CA
  14. North Charleston, SC
  15. Stockton-Lodi, CA

Without any disclosed data or methodology, I have to take this with a grain of salt. And going off the experiences I've had with the entire Charleston area I'm going to respectfully disagree with these rankings. But if you want to read more about it you can read the full USA By The Numbers article here.

Study Ranked The Smartest States And South Carolina Its Not You

Graduations for the class of 2022 have come and gone. High school seniors have made their college plans and others are starting their careers. Does being from a certain state give you an advantage? Obviously, the quality of the school system where you live is going to have an impact. But are certain states smarter than others? Well, PennStakes.com thinks so. They recently conducted research to find out what are the smartest states and South Carolina, well this one wasn't for you!

Some of these rankings do line up with America's top universities, but not all. And are schools like Harvard and Yale a fair representation of the entire state? How could they be when these schools are so exclusive. But gosh, it's hard to believe that in the bottom 5th of all the smartest states is where you find South Carolina.

So where did these rankings come from? PennStakes analyzed several key metrics including IQ scores, SAT scores, and more to create these rankings. You can see the full methodology at the end of this article. 

America's Smartest States (15 Lowest Ranking States)

50. West Virginia

Total Score: 12.6

West Virginiakrblokhin/Getty Images Plus

49. Mississippi

Total Score: 13.3

MississippiSeanPavonePhoto/Getty Images Plus

48. Louisiana

Total Score: 15.2

LouisianaSean Pavone/Getty Images Plus

47. Arkansas

Total Score: 19.1

ArkansasSean Pavone/Getty Images Creative

46. Nevada

Total Score: 20.0

NevadaJacob Boomsma/Getty Images Plus

45. New Mexico

Total Score: 20.4

New Mexico

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA downtown cityscape and street at twilight.

44. Alabama

Total Score: 22.4

AlabamaAllard1/Getty Images Plus

43. Oklahoma

Total Score: 22.4

Oklahomapabradyphoto/Getty Images Plus

42. Texas

Total Score: 23.9

TexasДмитрий Ларичев/ Getty Images Plus

41. South Carolina

Total Score: 28.0

White more than double the bottom two on this list, SC did still sore a dismal 28.0. In contrast the "smartest" state on this list scored a 93.9.

South Carolina Small towns summerOleksii Liskonih/Getty Images Plus

40. Kentucky

Total Score: 30.5

KentuckySean Pavone/Getty Images Plus

39. Florida

Total Score: 32.4

Jacksonville, Florida SkylineGetty Images/SeanPavonePhoto

38. Tennessee

Total Score: 34.2

Memphis Tennessee TN Downtown Drone Skyline Aerial.Getty Images/Kruck20

37. Arizona

Total Score: 35.9

ArizonaJonathan Ross Getty Images

36. Idaho

Total Score: 36.5

Idahoknowlesgallery/Getty Images Plus

Top 15 Smartest States

15. Nebraska

Total Score: 52.5

Nebraskawellesenterprises/Getty Images Plus

14. Kansas

Total Score: 53.3

Liberty Memorial and Union Station aerial views, downtown Kansas CityGetty Images/Samantha Ward

13. Utah

Total Score: 55.5

Winter daytime shot of Salt Lake City. Featured is the temple from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or the MormonsGetty Images/legacyimagesphotography

12. Maine

Total Score: 55.8

Maine(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

11. New York

Total Score: 57.8

New YorkJack Gao/ Getty Images Plus

10. Washington

Total Score: 60.3

Washington StateCavan Images/Getty Images Plus

9. Minnesota

Total Score: 67.0

MinnesotaSusan Rydberg/Getty Images Creative

8. Colorado

Total Score: 69.4

Coloradolightphoto/Getty Images Plus

7. New Jersey

Total Score: 69.5

New JerseyAUDREY SCRIPP/Getty Images Plus

6. New Hampshire

Total Score: 70.5

New HampshireSean Pavone/Getty Images Plus

5. Vermont

Total Score: 72.2

Vermont(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

4. Virginia

Total Score: 72.5

VirginiaSeanPavonePhoto/Getty Images Creative

3. Maryland

Total Score: 72.8

MarylandSeanPavonePhoto/Getty Images Plus

2. Connecticut

Total Score: 73.8

ConnecticutSean Pavone/Getty Images Plus

1. Massachusetts

Total Score: 93.9

Massachusetts decidedly takes the win, with a score a full 20 points higher than the 2nd place state.

MassachusettsFabiano Lacerda Dossanto/Getty Images Plus
Melanie Day is a graduate of North Carolina State University. She has worked for Beasley since 2012 in a variety of behind-the-scenes roles in both digital and promotions. Melanie writes about a diverse range of topics some of her favorites include travel, restaurants, Taylor Swift, and college athletics. When not at work you'll find her at a country concert or NC State sporting event.