These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In North Carolina

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 North Carolina 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 132 largest cities in North Carolina with data. We then crunched the numbers and were left with this set of the brightest cities in the Tar Heel State:

Marvin
Weddington
Davidson
Pinehurst
Oak Ridge
Apex
Summerfield
Carolina Beach
Harrisburg
Chapel Hill

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 NC reading, check out:

How we determined the smartest places in the Tar Heel State

Before we could dive into the potential IQs of various places in North Carolina, 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 132 places in North Carolina.

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 132 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 North Carolinaâ.

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. Marvin

Population: 5,806
Adults Without High School Diploma: 0.7%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Graduating early with their diplomas held high are the citizens in Martin, North Carolina. With a population of 5,806, an almost nonexistent high school dropout rate, and only .7% of the adult population without a high school diploma this town earned its #1 spot.

2. Weddington

Population: 9,906
Adults Without High School Diploma: 1.4%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Coming in the bittersweet #2 spot on our smartest cities list is the city of Weddington. With zero dropout rate mark and only 1.4% of the adult population missing a high school diploma they are in close competition to be sure.

3. Davidson

Population: 11,492
Adults Without High School Diploma: 2.4%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Davidson, North Carolina can be found in the #3 spot of smartest cities. With such great numbers and a total population hovering at 11,492 people itâs a shoe in as one of the smartest cities in the Tar Heel State.

4. Pinehurst

Population: 15,052
Adults Without High School Diploma: 2.6%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Pinehurst, our #4 town, earned its place on the list of smartest cities with only 2.6% of the adult population missing their high school diplomas. With a reputable 15,052 residents this city is on the road to success.

5. Oak Ridge

Population: 6,435
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Oak Ridge has the keys to success tucked away in their pockets as they swoop into #5. At 6,435 this tiny town is doing big things with almost no high school dropouts and a low percentage of adults without a high school education.

6. Apex

Population: 40,631
Adults Without High School Diploma: 2.9%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.9%

The suburban city of Apex has taken the #6 spot with winning numbers all around. With a population hovering around 40,000 and less than 1% of high schoolers dropping out early itâs a shoe in for our list of the smartest cities.

7. Summerfield

Population: 10,477
Adults Without High School Diploma: 4.8%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

The lovely town of Summerfield boasts impressive numbers as they have almost a nonexistent high school dropout rate and so few adults walking around without a high school diploma.

8. Carolina Beach

Population: 5,888
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.1%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

The kids at Carolina Beach are focused on school rather than play as they rank in at #8. A small town of only 5,888 residents they have few to no high school dropouts.

Smart cookies!

9. Harrisburg

Population: 13,549
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.2%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Cutting it close is the town of Harrisburg, North Carolina. A city of over 13,000 they kept the high school dropout rate ultra low to fill the #9 spot.

10. Chapel Hill

Population: 58,379
Adults Without High School Diploma: 4.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.6%

Last but certainly not least is the college town of Chapel Hill. Home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill itâs no wonder they made our list since the kids here already know where they want to go to college.

Go Heels!

And thatâs how you graduate in style

That is our definitive ranking of the 10 Smartest Cities in North Carolina. 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 Tar Heel 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 North Carolina

City	Rank	Population	Adults Without High School Diploma	Teenage High School Dropouts
Marvin	1	5,806	0.7%	0.0%
Weddington	2	9,906	1.4%	0.0%
Davidson	3	11,492	2.4%	0.0%
Pinehurst	4	15,052	2.6%	0.0%
Oak Ridge	5	6,435	3.5%	0.0%
Apex	6	40,631	2.9%	0.9%
Summerfield	7	10,477	4.8%	0.0%
Carolina Beach	8	5,888	5.1%	0.0%
Harrisburg	9	13,549	5.2%	0.0%
Chapel Hill	10	58,379	4.5%	0.6%
Waxhaw	11	10,878	3.9%	1.2%
Lewisville	12	13,037	5.9%	0.0%
Matthews	13	28,677	5.4%	0.5%
Kill Devil Hills	14	6,810	6.5%	0.0%
Elon	15	9,516	6.6%	0.0%
Cary	16	146,041	4.8%	1.8%
Winterville	17	9,424	7.5%	0.0%
Wesley Chapel	18	7,882	5.5%	1.6%
Wake Forest	19	33,319	5.2%	2.3%
Oak Island	20	7,051	8.2%	0.0%
Holly Springs	21	27,339	3.6%	3.3%
Havelock	22	20,850	5.2%	2.4%
Gibsonville	23	6,565	8.7%	0.0%
Carrboro	24	20,337	7.3%	1.4%
Stallings	25	14,185	6.5%	2.3%
Garner	26	26,723	8.4%	0.5%
Clemmons	27	19,101	6.4%	2.7%
Boone	28	17,802	9.1%	0.2%
Mint Hill	29	23,934	8.3%	1.1%
Spring Lake	30	13,101	9.3%	0.3%
Greenville	31	87,546	9.1%	0.8%
Southern Pines	32	12,782	8.1%	2.3%
Black Mountain	33	7,977	10.7%	0.0%
Knightdale	34	12,692	10.9%	0.0%
Jacksonville	35	69,300	8.8%	1.5%
Clayton	36	17,274	7.3%	3.0%
Morehead City	37	9,030	11.3%	0.0%
Morrisville	38	20,728	4.0%	5.5%
Huntersville	39	49,279	5.0%	5.0%
Conover	40	8,200	12.0%	0.0%
Indian Trail	41	34,950	7.2%	3.7%
Boiling Spring Lakes	42	5,529	12.7%	0.0%
Mount Holly	43	13,815	14.4%	0.0%
Hope Mills	44	16,024	11.4%	1.9%
Raleigh	45	423,287	9.3%	3.2%
Pineville	46	7,855	14.8%	0.0%
Belmont	47	10,346	14.7%	0.2%
Asheville	48	85,783	8.3%	4.8%
Unionville	49	6,180	6.0%	6.9%
Shelby	50	20,283	14.4%	2.3%
Fayetteville	51	202,421	9.0%	4.9%
Concord	52	82,266	13.0%	3.0%
Greensboro	53	276,225	11.6%	3.7%
Mills River	54	6,917	7.5%	7.6%
Nashville	55	5,469	11.9%	3.9%
Mooresville	56	34,466	8.3%	6.8%
Charlotte	57	774,807	11.9%	4.2%
Brevard	58	7,651	12.0%	4.0%
Washington	59	9,768	18.7%	0.3%
Durham	60	240,107	12.8%	3.8%
Fletcher	61	7,320	8.2%	7.7%
Wilmington	62	110,100	10.4%	6.0%
Kernersville	63	23,522	9.6%	6.4%
Cornelius	64	26,246	5.4%	14.5%
Wadesboro	65	5,711	19.6%	0.6%
Rockingham	66	9,444	16.8%	3.1%
Rocky Mount	67	57,071	17.4%	2.8%
Elizabeth City	68	18,343	19.5%	1.2%
Hickory	69	40,108	15.1%	3.8%
Leland	70	15,316	7.3%	15.0%
Stokesdale	71	5,177	5.7%	26.9%
Waynesville	72	9,770	18.1%	3.3%
Roanoke Rapids	73	15,653	19.3%	2.8%
Goldsboro	74	35,908	15.5%	4.8%
Mebane	75	12,509	9.0%	12.2%
Fuquay-Varina	76	20,246	10.4%	10.7%
Hillsborough	77	6,256	15.2%	5.0%
King	78	6,732	10.4%	12.1%
High Point	79	106,797	14.5%	7.2%
Salisbury	80	33,524	18.2%	4.6%
Laurinburg	81	15,799	20.4%	3.3%
Smithfield	82	11,357	23.1%	1.3%
Aberdeen	83	6,702	12.7%	11.3%
Sawmills	84	5,164	21.8%	2.8%
Cherryville	85	5,826	18.8%	4.5%
Lenoir	86	18,061	25.4%	0.9%
Kings Mountain	87	10,743	17.4%	5.9%
Mocksville	88	5,086	22.6%	2.5%
Wendell	89	6,085	11.1%	15.7%
Winston-Salem	90	234,469	15.4%	7.8%
Albemarle	91	15,924	21.7%	3.4%
Thomasville	92	27,042	21.5%	3.5%
Henderson	93	15,325	28.2%	0.8%
Selma	94	6,172	40.2%	0.0%
Archdale	95	11,322	19.7%	5.0%
Statesville	96	25,132	17.8%	7.7%
Woodfin	97	6,167	12.9%	16.5%
Graham	98	14,384	21.1%	5.4%
Ayden	99	5,018	19.0%	7.2%
Williamston	100	5,410	18.3%	7.9%
Gastonia	101	72,664	17.9%	9.3%
Clinton	102	8,729	20.3%	6.4%
Trinity	103	6,648	16.2%	12.2%
Reidsville	104	14,249	14.9%	15.9%
New Bern	105	30,171	16.2%	13.7%
Hendersonville	106	13,350	14.2%	29.1%
Bessemer City	107	5,410	23.1%	4.4%
Monroe	108	33,588	25.5%	3.7%
Whiteville	109	5,465	21.3%	6.6%
Kinston	110	21,589	20.1%	7.7%
Eden	111	15,543	21.8%	6.1%
Dunn	112	9,570	21.2%	7.3%
Burlington	113	51,740	18.4%	12.0%
Lincolnton	114	10,601	20.3%	9.5%
Hamlet	115	6,566	21.0%	9.2%
Ahoskie	116	5,017	27.1%	4.9%
Kannapolis	117	43,865	18.2%	15.3%
Roxboro	118	8,330	28.3%	5.1%
Wilson	119	49,389	21.0%	14.0%
Lumberton	120	21,707	28.2%	6.3%
Sanford	121	28,798	22.7%	10.9%
Siler City	122	8,109	32.9%	6.1%
Forest City	123	7,387	29.9%	6.2%
Tarboro	124	11,323	23.9%	9.5%
Oxford	125	8,585	19.7%	29.5%
Marion	126	7,948	22.3%	12.8%
Newton	127	12,998	21.5%	16.2%
Asheboro	128	25,573	25.8%	9.5%
Morganton	129	16,816	24.7%	12.4%
Lexington	130	19,029	29.5%	9.3%
Butner	131	7,661	21.9%	33.7%
Mount Airy	132	10,411	24.0%	19.2%