These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Oregon

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 Oregon 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 76 largest cities in Oregon with data. We then crunched the numbers and were left with this set of the brightest cities in the Beaver State:

Lake Oswego
Creswell
Bend
Sherwood
North Bend
Corvallis
West Linn
Happy Valley
Ashland
Florence

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 OR reading, check out:

How we determined the smartest places in the Beaver State

Before we could dive into the potential IQs of various places in Oregon, 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 76 places in Oregon.

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 76 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 Oregonâ.

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. Lake Oswego

Population: 37,310
Adults Without High School Diploma: 2.2%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.5%

Graduating as valedictorian and taking the diploma for the smartest city in Oregon is the city of Lake Oswego.

With a population of over 37,000 people and a low high school dropout rate of only .5% Lake Oswego is our hope for a bright future in the Beaver State.

2. Creswell

Population: 5,065
Adults Without High School Diploma: 6.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Coming in at #2 is the little town of Creswell. This tiny town is doing big things with an almost non-existent high school dropout rate.

The kids here are getting a world class education to be sure.

3. Bend

Population: 79,698
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.7%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.8%

The metro area of Bend, Oregon has been spending a lot of time in the library lately. With almost 80,000 residents Bend overcame the odds and kept their kids in school in order to rank #3 even with the largest population on the list.

4. Sherwood

Population: 18,687
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.3%

Sherwood is a sure fit for #4. With only 3.5% of the adult population lacking a high school diploma and a population just shy of 19,000 men and women itâs a bright bulb in the towns and cities of Oregon.

5. North Bend

Population: 9,591
Adults Without High School Diploma: 6.2%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.5%

Next is North Bend at #5 just a few minutes away from itâs slightly more gifted sibling #3 Bend, Oregon. A much smaller portion of the Bend area, this small town of less than 10,000 is doing big things.

With a dropout rate of only .5% North Bend is a great place to send your kids to school.

6. Corvallis

Population: 54,735
Adults Without High School Diploma: 4.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.1%

Another giant genius in the Beaver State is Corvallis coming in at #6 on our list of smartest cities. With over 50,000 residents, and only 1.1% of them leaving high school unfinished, this town has a bright future ahead of it.

7. West Linn

Population: 25,710
Adults Without High School Diploma: 1.8%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.9%

Getting on down the list is the city of West Linn. Ranking at #7 for itâs ultra low number of adults without a high school diploma West Linn has a lot of potential.

We know the kids here are getting their moneyâs worth in school.

8. Happy Valley

Population: 15,693
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.7%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.5%

We think itâs called Happy Valley for a reason. I mean being ranked among the smartest cities in a state is definitely something to celebrate.

After the over 15,000 residents are done celebrating theyâll probably head home and brush up on some relativity theory and modern art for fun.

9. Ashland

Population: 20,412
Adults Without High School Diploma: 2.8%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.9%

Ashland squeaks by at the #9 spot of the smartest cities in Oregon. With less than 2% of its high schoolers leaving early this town is on the road to success.

10. Florence

Population: 8,498
Adults Without High School Diploma: 8.1%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Rounding out the list of the smartest cities is the town of Florence. Though not in Italy this small town is still pretty awesome. With around 8,500 residents Florence is hitting the books most nights.

And thatâs how you graduate in style

That is our definitive ranking of the 10 Smartest Cities in Oregon. 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 Beaver 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 Oregon

City	Rank	Population	Adults Without High School Diploma	Teenage High School Drop Outs
Lake Oswego	1	37,310	2.2%	0.5%
Creswell	2	5,065	6.3%	0.0%
Bend	3	79,698	5.7%	0.8%
Sherwood	4	18,687	3.5%	1.3%
North Bend	5	9,591	6.2%	0.5%
Corvallis	6	54,735	4.3%	1.1%
West Linn	7	25,710	1.8%	1.9%
Happy Valley	8	15,693	3.7%	1.5%
Ashland	9	20,412	2.8%	1.9%
Florence	10	8,498	8.1%	0.0%
Eagle Point	11	8,599	9.0%	0.0%
Newport	12	10,045	9.4%	0.0%
Eugene	13	158,131	6.7%	2.9%
Silverton	14	9,342	9.0%	1.5%
Tualatin	15	26,604	8.5%	2.0%
Molalla	16	8,247	11.4%	0.0%
La Grande	17	13,090	8.2%	2.9%
Oregon City	18	33,834	7.9%	4.3%
Troutdale	19	16,339	8.3%	3.9%
Seaside	20	6,481	12.5%	0.0%
Warrenton	21	5,089	9.3%	2.7%
Scappoose	22	6,778	7.6%	5.8%
Tigard	23	49,633	8.1%	5.3%
Pendleton	24	16,830	8.8%	4.1%
Albany	25	51,210	10.6%	2.3%
St. Helens	26	13,017	11.9%	1.0%
Beaverton	27	92,593	9.0%	3.8%
Brookings	28	6,350	8.3%	5.3%
Monmouth	29	9,769	8.7%	5.0%
Sweet Home	30	9,042	10.9%	3.1%
Damascus	31	10,711	8.4%	5.4%
Wilsonville	32	20,335	8.0%	6.6%
Sandy	33	9,945	5.9%	8.6%
Portland	34	602,568	9.1%	4.6%
Milwaukie	35	20,449	6.2%	8.5%
Hood River	36	7,311	14.7%	0.0%
Newberg	37	22,451	13.6%	1.4%
Gladstone	38	11,668	10.9%	4.8%
Fairview	39	9,094	13.8%	1.1%
Lebanon	40	15,761	9.1%	6.0%
Cottage Grove	41	9,772	15.1%	0.9%
Sheridan	42	6,081	17.2%	0.0%
Prineville	43	9,184	16.8%	0.4%
The Dalles	44	15,068	15.0%	1.1%
Astoria	45	9,503	7.4%	13.9%
Stayton	46	7,719	17.5%	0.5%
Forest Grove	47	22,070	15.7%	1.0%
Talent	48	6,164	8.0%	15.8%
Keizer	49	36,875	11.1%	6.3%
Coos Bay	50	16,022	11.8%	5.5%
McMinnville	51	32,839	15.3%	1.9%
Cornelius	52	12,068	32.7%	0.0%
Dallas	53	14,788	9.0%	9.1%
Central Point	54	17,443	14.0%	3.3%
Milton-Freewater	55	7,094	38.3%	0.0%
Grants Pass	56	34,916	11.0%	7.7%
Hillsboro	57	95,765	13.2%	5.3%
Roseburg	58	21,858	9.5%	9.4%
Baker City	59	9,774	10.9%	15.3%
Redmond	60	27,002	11.2%	9.8%
Salem	61	157,967	13.6%	6.5%
Klamath Falls	62	21,165	14.0%	6.2%
Ontario	63	11,148	25.4%	2.9%
Umatilla	64	6,998	23.0%	3.8%
Winston	65	5,356	12.3%	9.3%
Medford	66	76,648	12.5%	8.7%
Springfield	67	59,882	13.1%	9.0%
Gresham	68	108,250	16.3%	5.9%
Canby	69	16,821	11.5%	17.1%
Junction City	70	5,566	14.8%	7.3%
Sutherlin	71	7,776	14.5%	8.4%
Lincoln City	72	7,977	14.2%	16.0%
Independence	73	8,654	21.3%	16.2%
Hermiston	74	17,031	19.6%	16.5%
Woodburn	75	24,282	33.9%	10.1%
Madras	76	6,419	23.1%	21.6%