These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Kentucky

One of the many qualities that people look for in a potential location or company is the intelligence of those around them. This factor can play a huge role in oneâs experience at a particular company and can make or break an employeeâs time there.

So finding a city with an intelligent population makes sense for both companies and employees. Thatâs where Zippia comes in; to help you identify those places in Kentucky that might have skipped a gradeâ¦or two.

You may be wondering how does one determine how intelligent a town really is?

Well we went to the source of all things demographic data â the Census â to figure out what criteria about a place would identify it is a smart cookie.

We set upon the percentage of adults (over 25) with at least a high school degree and the percentage of high school dropouts (aged 16-20) for the 78 largest cities in Kentucky with data. We then crunched the numbers and were left with this set of the brightest cities in the Bluegrass State:

Union
Edgewood
Fort Mitchell
Cold Spring
Middletown
Villa Hills
Lyndon
St. Matthews
Douglass Hills
Taylor Mill

Read on to see why these places got into a four-year college or skip to the end to see a full chart of all the places in our analysis.

For more KY reading, check out:

How we determined the smartest places in the Bluegrass State

Before we could dive into the potential IQs of various places in Kentucky, we needed to know which places to look at in the first place. We settled upon any place with over 5,000 people and data available for every criteria.

This left us with 78 places in Kentucky.

We then looked at the following criteria to determine the cream from the crop when it comes to smarts:

Our data comes directly from the latest American Community Survey from the Census.

We thought this criteria was representative of the current state of smarts with the potential for a place to improve the education levels of the next generation. And itâs not like we are setting the education bar incredibly high â 80% of students graduate from high school nowadays.

In order to determine the smartest, we ranked all the cities for each criteria from one to 78 with one being the âsmartestâ in any category.

We took the average rank across all criteria, with the place posting the highest overall score being given the diploma for âSmartest City In Kentuckyâ.

If your city or town isnât among the top 10, jump down to the bottom of the post to see a detailed chart. Otherwise, learn more about how the top ten cities achieved their potential.

1. Union

Population: 5,569
Adults Without High School Diploma: 2.7%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Graduating early with their diplomas held high are the citizens in Union, Kentucky. With a population of 5,569, an almost nonexistent high school dropout rate, and only 2.7% of the adult population without a high school diploma this town earned its #1 spot.

2. Edgewood

Population: 8,665
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Taking the bittersweet spot of #2 Edgewood, Kentucky has made the list with almost no high school dropouts and only 3.3% of the adult population missing a high school diploma.

3. Fort Mitchell

Population: 8,209
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Taking the bronze medal on our list is the city of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. With such great numbers the kids here are definitely getting a quality education.

Smart cookies.

4. Cold Spring

Population: 6,093
Adults Without High School Diploma: 4.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Taking the #4 spot Cold Spring is a small town of 6,093 residents. But the kids here are crushing it in school with an ultra low high school dropout rate and only 4.3% of the adult population missing a high school diploma.

5. Middletown

Population: 7,333
Adults Without High School Diploma: 4.9%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Middletown is fittingly in the middle of our list at the #5 spot on the list of smartest cities in Kentucky. With a population of just over 7,300 people and almost no high school dropouts this tiny town is doing big things!

6. Villa Hills

Population: 7,359
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

It might sound like a vacation spot but Villa Hills is clearly a place of study. A town of 7,359 this area boasts almost no high school dropouts and a small population of 5.3% of adults without high school diplomas.

7. Lyndon

Population: 11,167
Adults Without High School Diploma: 6.2%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Sitting pretty at #7 is the town of Lyndon. At a population of 11,167 and 6.2% of the adult population lacking a high school diploma the kids here are in study hall every day. Way to go!

8. St. Matthews

Population: 17,686
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.1%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.7%

At #8 is the city of St. Matthews with a population over 17,686. This metropolitan city is breaking the stereotype that big cities lack education and opportunity with a high school dropout rate of just 1.7% and just over 5% of residents missing a high school diploma.

9. Douglass Hills

Population: 5,566
Adults Without High School Diploma: 7.1%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Cutting it close is the town of Douglass Hills at #9 with a population of just over 5,500 residents. With so few high school dropouts itâs no surprise this town made our smartest cities list.

10. Taylor Mill

Population: 6,682
Adults Without High School Diploma: 7.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Rounding out our list at #10 is the city of Taylor Mill. With a population hovering around the 6,682 mark, almost no high school dropouts, and a population of adults without high school degress of only 7.5% the residents here are some of the brightest bulbs in the box.

And thatâs how you graduate in style

That is our definitive ranking of the 10 Smartest Cities in Kentucky. Here at Zippia we want to bring important information to our readers. Now you can make a more informed decision on your next visit to the Bluegrass State. Be sure to visit these towns to see their intelligence first hand and experience it for yourself. And next time youâre looking for career advice head to zippia.com to have all of your quesitons answered.

Detailed List Of Smartest Cities In Kentucky

City	Rank	Population	Adults Without High School Diploma	Teenage High School Drop Outs
Union	1	5,569	2.7%	0.0%
Edgewood	2	8,665	3.3%	0.0%
Fort Mitchell	3	8,209	3.5%	0.0%
Cold Spring	4	6,093	4.3%	0.0%
Middletown	5	7,333	4.9%	0.0%
Villa Hills	6	7,359	5.3%	0.0%
Lyndon	7	11,167	6.2%	0.0%
St. Matthews	8	17,686	5.1%	1.7%
Douglass Hills	9	5,566	7.1%	0.0%
Taylor Mill	10	6,682	7.5%	0.0%
Fort Wright	11	5,726	5.4%	2.1%
Fort Thomas	12	16,250	6.7%	1.2%
Erlanger	13	18,370	7.6%	1.0%
Oak Grove	14	7,522	9.5%	0.0%
Wilmore	15	5,995	10.1%	0.0%
Bellevue	16	5,933	10.8%	0.0%
Independence	17	25,638	10.0%	1.3%
Mount Washington	18	11,956	9.4%	1.7%
Florence	19	31,038	11.4%	1.5%
Flatwoods	20	7,483	13.2%	0.0%
Madisonville	21	19,807	13.3%	0.0%
Lexington-Fayette	22	304,473	10.8%	2.2%
La Grange	23	8,283	9.5%	2.9%
Morehead	24	6,896	15.0%	0.0%
Highland Heights	25	7,152	8.0%	4.3%
Georgetown	26	30,349	12.1%	2.6%
Murray	27	18,375	15.7%	0.3%
Vine Grove	28	5,296	8.4%	4.9%
Owensboro	29	58,000	14.2%	2.0%
Bowling Green	30	60,660	15.7%	0.8%
Alexandria	31	8,654	6.2%	6.2%
Danville	32	16,471	12.2%	3.0%
Central City	33	5,932	16.8%	0.0%
Elizabethtown	34	29,464	12.1%	3.6%
Shively	35	15,450	17.4%	0.0%
Berea	36	14,209	15.9%	1.6%
Richmond	37	32,706	14.8%	2.3%
Jeffersontown	38	26,862	7.8%	8.5%
Radcliff	39	22,939	10.5%	5.4%
Nicholasville	40	28,483	17.4%	1.4%
Paducah	41	25,046	14.3%	3.7%
Franklin	42	8,563	20.1%	0.0%
Louisville	43	605,762	13.1%	4.9%
Lawrenceburg	44	11,014	13.1%	5.1%
Hopkinsville	45	32,507	15.2%	3.3%
Ashland	46	21,551	11.9%	7.2%
Williamsburg	47	5,260	19.5%	2.3%
Harrodsburg	48	8,359	22.7%	0.0%
Dayton	49	5,382	16.5%	3.8%
Frankfort	50	27,389	14.4%	5.7%
Glasgow	51	14,152	24.0%	0.0%
Bardstown	52	12,833	13.1%	9.8%
Princeton	53	6,274	12.7%	10.2%
Corbin	54	7,051	19.8%	3.0%
Pikeville	55	7,313	22.8%	2.4%
Lebanon	56	5,594	22.7%	2.7%
Versailles	57	8,908	18.2%	5.0%
Elsmere	58	8,451	20.2%	4.3%
Hillview	59	7,785	14.8%	13.2%
Winchester	60	18,363	20.2%	4.6%
Maysville	61	8,951	19.9%	5.0%
Henderson	62	28,840	15.8%	11.4%
Campbellsville	63	11,126	18.7%	6.1%
Covington	64	40,712	18.1%	7.7%
Shepherdsville	65	11,573	16.0%	11.7%
Russellville	66	6,998	25.8%	2.7%
Paris	67	9,746	17.8%	9.1%
Mayfield	68	10,091	24.5%	3.1%
Hazard	69	5,453	19.2%	10.1%
Mount Sterling	70	7,030	17.3%	22.4%
Somerset	71	11,311	21.0%	9.9%
Newport	72	15,467	22.0%	8.6%
Monticello	73	6,163	33.3%	3.9%
Middlesborough	74	10,035	31.5%	4.6%
Shelbyville	75	14,558	20.5%	23.8%
Cynthiana	76	6,388	21.6%	17.5%
Leitchfield	77	6,781	25.7%	8.8%
London	78	8,062	26.0%	24.3%