These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In New Mexico

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 New Mexico 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 34 largest cities in New Mexico with data. We then crunched the numbers and were left with this set of the brightest cities in the Land of Enchantment:

Los Ranchos De Albuquerque
Rio Rancho
Ruidoso
Alamogordo
Albuquerque
Las Cruces
Corrales
Grants
Los Lunas
Farmington

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 NM reading, check out:

How we determined the smartest places in the Land of Enchantment

Before we could dive into the potential IQs of various places in New Mexico, 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 34 places in New Mexico.

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 34 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 New Mexicoâ.

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. Los Ranchos De Albuquerque

Population: 6,074
Adults Without High School Diploma: 4.8%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Graduating early with their diplomas held high are the citizens of Los Ranchos De Albuquerque, New Mexico. With a population of 6,074, an almost nonexistent high school dropout rate, and only 4.8% of the adult population without a high school diploma this town earned its #1 spot.

2. Rio Rancho

Population: 90,627
Adults Without High School Diploma: 6.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 4.2%

Coming in the bittersweet #2 spot on our smartest cities list is the city of Rio Rancho. With a dropout rate hovering around the 4% mark and only 6.3% of the adult population missing a high school diploma they are in close competition to be sure.

3. Ruidoso

Population: 7,954
Adults Without High School Diploma: 11.6%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

The town of Ruidoso has settled in nicely to the #3 spot on our list. As a small town of 7,954 with a great track record for keeping kids in school until they graduate they practically walked onto our list of smartest cities.

4. Alamogordo

Population: 31,224
Adults Without High School Diploma: 11.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 3.5%

Alamogordo, New Mexico can be found in the #4 spot of smartest cities. With such great numbers and a total population hovering at 31,224 people itâs a shoe in as one of the smartest cities in the Land of Enchantment.

5. Albuquerque

Population: 553,576
Adults Without High School Diploma: 11.1%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 6.1%

The largest city to make our list with a population of over half a million strong, Albuquerque is proving that large cities can have great educational systems too. With only 6.1% of the high school population dropping out early and around 11% of the adults there missing a high school diploma itâs no wonder it made the list.

6. Las Cruces

Population: 100,360
Adults Without High School Diploma: 14.6%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 4.6%

Las Cruces, or the City of the Crosses, has taken the #6 spot on our list of smartest cities with a population of over 100,000 residents and a low high school dropout rate of only 4.6%.

Smart cookies!

7. Corrales

Population: 8,426
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.0%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 9.6%

Corrales, our #7 town, earned its place on the list of smartest cities with only 5% of the adult population missing their high school diplomas. With a reputable 8,426 residents this little city is doing big things.

8. Grants

Population: 9,245
Adults Without High School Diploma: 22.0%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

What the town of Grants, New Mexico lacks in adults with high school diplomas it makes up for with an almost nonexistent high school dropout rate. This is a place you want to send your kids to school.

9. Los Lunas

Population: 15,203
Adults Without High School Diploma: 14.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 6.8%

Cutting it close is the city of Los Lunas with a population of 15,203. With just a 6.8% high school dropout rate the kids here are studying hard every night of the week.

10. Farmington

Population: 45,383
Adults Without High School Diploma: 13.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 7.6%

Rounding out our list at the #10 spot is the city of Farmington, New Mexico. Boasting a population of over 45,000 and so few high school dropouts this city is on the road to success.

And thatâs how you graduate in style

That is our definitive ranking of the 10 Smartest Cities in New Mexico. 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 Land of Enchantment. 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 New Mexico

City	Rank	Population	Adults Without High School Diploma	Teenage High School Drop Outs
Los Ranchos de Albuquerque	1	6,074	4.8%	0.0%
Rio Rancho	2	90,627	6.3%	4.2%
Ruidoso	3	7,954	11.6%	0.0%
Alamogordo	4	31,224	11.5%	3.5%
Albuquerque	5	553,576	11.1%	6.1%
Las Cruces	6	100,360	14.6%	4.6%
Corrales	7	8,426	5.0%	9.6%
Grants	8	9,245	22.0%	0.0%
Los Lunas	9	15,203	14.3%	6.8%
Farmington	10	45,383	13.5%	7.6%
Carlsbad	11	26,996	15.9%	7.6%
Bernalillo	12	8,400	21.2%	4.5%
Bloomfield	13	7,877	22.4%	4.0%
Santa Fe	14	69,245	10.9%	17.0%
Roswell	15	48,568	20.4%	5.4%
Clovis	16	39,204	18.4%	6.2%
Las Vegas	17	13,833	22.4%	4.3%
Aztec	18	6,619	19.6%	6.5%
Tucumcari	19	5,237	22.3%	6.3%
Portales	20	12,481	17.4%	11.4%
Taos	21	5,713	13.2%	30.0%
Sunland Park	22	14,794	46.6%	4.1%
Artesia	23	11,494	18.0%	13.6%
Gallup	24	22,189	22.1%	7.8%
Silver City	25	10,245	16.7%	19.0%
Truth or Consequences	26	6,337	15.6%	33.3%
Raton	27	6,627	17.1%	20.9%
Socorro	28	8,898	24.9%	9.4%
Belen	29	7,249	24.6%	10.2%
Espa	30	10,216	25.0%	13.9%
Hobbs	31	35,343	27.0%	14.1%
Deming	32	14,760	31.2%	14.2%
Anthony	33	9,462	42.6%	16.1%
Lovington	34	11,364	35.8%	18.5%