These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Mississippi

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 Mississippi 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 61 largest cities in Mississippi with data. We then crunched the numbers and were left with this set of the brightest cities in the Magnolia State:

Diamondhead
Madison
Oxford
Ocean Springs
Starkville
Olive Branch
Bay St. Louis
Clinton
DâIberville
Long Beach

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 MS reading, check out:

How we determined the smartest places in the Magnolia State

Before we could dive into the potential IQs of various places in Mississippi, 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 61 places in Mississippi.

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 61 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 Mississippiâ.

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. Diamondhead

Population: 8,275
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.0%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.5%

Diamondhead graduated early and at the top of the class. Itâs taken the diploma as the smartest city in the state of Mississippi with almost no high school dropouts and only 3% of the population lacking a high school diploma.

2. Madison

Population: 24,871
Adults Without High School Diploma: 2.0%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.8%

The silver finisher is Madison with just over 24,000 residents. With so few high school dropouts and just 2% of the adult population lacking a high school diploma they earned their spot here.

3. Oxford

Population: 20,200
Adults Without High School Diploma: 7.4%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.9%

With numbers like these the kids here can go to Oxford College if they choose as only .9% are dropping out early and just 7.4% of the adult population missing their diploma.

4. Ocean Springs

Population: 17,446
Adults Without High School Diploma: 7.7%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.6%

Springing forth into #4 is Ocean Springs. At over 17,000 residents this city is making us proud with only 1.6% of the high school population dropping out of school early.

5. Starkville

Population: 24,457
Adults Without High School Diploma: 11.7%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

The coveted #5 spot has fallen to the residents in Starkville. Numbering around 24,457 people this city is doing it big with almost no high school dropouts to be found.

Smart cookies.

6. Olive Branch

Source: Flickr

Population: 34,543
Adults Without High School Diploma: 8.0%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.2%

The city of Olive Branch is coming in at #6 with some pretty great numbers. An ultra low high school dropout rate and 8% lacking a high school diploma earns them a high rank on our list.

7. Bay St. Louis

Population: 10,313
Adults Without High School Diploma: 12.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Taking the bittersweet #7 spot is the town of Bay St. Louis. With an ultra low high school dropout rate this tiny town is doing big things!

8. Clinton

Population: 25,486
Adults Without High School Diploma: 7.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 3.0%

Coming in at #8 the city of Clinton is making a big show of intelligence as only 3% of high school kids are dropping out early and 7.3% of the population is missing itâs high school diploma.

9. DâIberville

Population: 10,161
Adults Without High School Diploma: 15.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Finishing strong at #9 the town of DâIberville is studying hard as only 15.5% of the population is missing a high school diploma and so few kids are leaving high school early on.

10. Long Beach

Population: 15,224
Adults Without High School Diploma: 11.0%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 2.5%

Rounding out our list and coming in at #10 is the city of Long Beach, Mississippi. With so few high school dropouts and 15.5% of the adult population lacking a high school diploma they have earned their spot on the list.

And thatâs how you graduate in style

There you have it folks, the Ten Smartest cities in the state Mississippi. They have the numbers to back it up so go ahead and visit them to soak up some of the smarts around town. If youâd like more information on different cities and states around the U.S. be sure to visit www.zippia.com to have all of your questions answered.

Detailed List Of Smartest Cities In Mississippi

City	Rank	Population	Adults Without High School Diploma	Teenage High School Dropouts
Diamondhead	1	8,275	3.0%	0.5%
Madison	2	24,871	2.0%	1.8%
Oxford	3	20,200	7.4%	0.9%
Ocean Springs	4	17,446	7.7%	1.6%
Starkville	5	24,457	11.7%	0.0%
Olive Branch	6	34,543	8.0%	1.2%
Bay St. Louis	7	10,313	12.3%	0.0%
Clinton	8	25,486	7.3%	3.0%
DâIberville	9	10,161	15.5%	0.0%
Long Beach	10	15,224	11.0%	2.5%
Southaven	11	50,389	11.2%	2.4%
Gautier	12	18,581	10.3%	3.8%
Brandon	13	22,616	7.1%	5.4%
Flowood	14	8,218	7.2%	5.6%
New Albany	15	8,291	19.8%	0.0%
Petal	16	10,675	11.4%	4.3%
Natchez	17	15,563	17.9%	1.0%
Senatobia	18	8,063	19.9%	0.9%
Hernando	19	14,723	11.4%	5.3%
Picayune	20	10,838	17.0%	2.4%
Ridgeland	21	24,209	5.2%	9.1%
Cleveland	22	12,318	14.8%	4.2%
Byram	23	11,609	7.3%	8.3%
Ripley	24	5,349	22.5%	0.0%
Waveland	25	6,463	17.3%	3.2%
Pontotoc	26	5,754	21.6%	1.6%
Pascagoula	27	22,239	16.0%	4.6%
Biloxi	28	44,527	14.1%	5.6%
Horn Lake	29	26,486	15.3%	5.4%
Philadelphia	30	7,446	21.1%	2.4%
Hattiesburg	31	46,629	16.6%	4.5%
Brookhaven	32	12,499	14.8%	6.1%
Louisville	33	6,498	25.9%	0.0%
Booneville	34	8,775	25.1%	0.7%
Richland	35	7,012	12.1%	10.1%
Moss Point	36	13,690	15.3%	7.4%
Holly Springs	37	7,585	26.6%	0.6%
Corinth	38	14,797	20.8%	3.9%
Pearl	39	26,105	11.2%	12.6%
Meridian	40	40,809	16.1%	6.1%
Gulfport	41	69,913	15.9%	7.3%
Clarksdale	42	17,497	20.7%	4.2%
Amory	43	7,197	22.7%	2.7%
Grenada	44	12,951	25.0%	2.2%
Indianola	45	10,426	23.6%	2.8%
Canton	46	13,321	29.9%	0.2%
Jackson	47	173,631	16.5%	7.5%
Tupelo	48	35,345	13.1%	12.4%
Vicksburg	49	23,559	16.4%	10.5%
Batesville	50	7,436	12.8%	20.6%
West Point	51	11,200	22.9%	5.3%
Yazoo City	52	11,462	24.5%	6.1%
Columbus	53	23,483	20.4%	11.9%
Greenville	54	33,518	22.0%	9.4%
Kosciusko	55	7,302	23.9%	8.1%
McComb	56	12,771	26.0%	7.0%
Greenwood	57	15,873	24.8%	9.0%
Columbia	58	6,446	29.0%	12.4%
Laurel	59	18,720	28.4%	20.3%
Aberdeen	60	5,492	30.3%	13.7%
Forest	61	5,719	31.3%	14.4%