These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Tennessee

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 one’s experience at a particular company and can make or break an employee’s time there.

So finding a city with an intelligent population makes sense for both companies and employees. That’s where Zippia comes in; to help you identify those places in Tennessee that might have skipped a grade…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 – the Census – 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 97 largest cities in Tennessee with data. We then crunched the numbers and were left with this set of the brightest cities in the Volunteer State:

1. Germantown
2. Brentwood
3. Arlington
4. Lakeland
5. Oakland
6. Bartlett
7. Atoka
8. Collierville
9. Mount Juliet
10. Greenbrier

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.

How we determined the smartest places in the Volunteer State

Before we could dive into the potential IQs of various places in Tennessee, 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 97 places in Tennessee.

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 it’s not like we are setting the education bar incredibly high — 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 97 with one being the “smartest” in any category.

We took the average rank across all criteria, with the place posting the highest overall score being given the diploma for “Smartest City In Tennessee”.

If your city or town isn’t 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. Germantown

Population: 39,207
Adults Without High School Diploma: 1.9%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Graduating early and at the top of it’s class is the town of Germantown, Tennessee. With a population of 39,207 people, almost no high school dropouts, and only 1.9% of the population lacking a high school diploma it’s Tennessee’s best chance for a bright future.

2. Brentwood

Population: 39,059
Adults Without High School Diploma: 2.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

The town of Brentwood, Tennessee has taken the #2 spot with a population of 39,059 and an almost nonexistent high school dropout rate.

Smart cookies!

3. Arlington

Population: 11,623
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.4%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Coming in the #3 spot is the city of Arlington, Tennessee. With just 3.4% of the adult population lacking a high school diploma and almost no high school dropouts to be found it’s not hard to see how they ranked so well.

4. Lakeland

Population: 12,549
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.0%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Securing its spot on the list of smartest cities is the town of Lakeland. With a population hovering just over 12,000 and only 5% of the adult population lacking a high school diploma the kids here are spending extra time in study hall every week.

5. Oakland

Population: 6,944
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

At #5, the town of Oakland, Tennessee is on it’s way to success. With a population of around 6,944 and almost no high school dropouts this town earned its spot on the list.

6. Bartlett

Population: 57,805
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.6%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.0%

Coming in at #6 is the metro area of Bartlett, Tennessee. As the biggest city to make our list this location is breaking the stereotype that big cities have poor systems of education. With only 1% of the high school population not finishing school it’s obvious the kids here are studying hard every night.

7. Atoka

Population: 8,727
Adults Without High School Diploma: 7.4%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Taking the coveted #7 spot is Atoka, a town of 8,727 people. With a virtually nonexistent high school dropout rate and only 7.4% of the adult population lacking a high school diploma this city is on the road to success.

8. Collierville

Population: 46,780
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.4%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.3%

Aside from having a cool name the city of Collierville can also brag about it’s #8 spot in the lineup of smartest cities in the state of Tennessee. With such great numbers the kids here must be acing every test!

9. Mount Juliet

Population: 27,053
Adults Without High School Diploma: 6.9%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.2%

Cutting it close, the city of Mount Juliet has ranked as the #9 smartest city in the entire state of Tennessee. Despite being a larger town the high school dropout rate is low at 1.2%.

It’s safe to say the kids here are going to climb the success ladder in record time.

10. Greenbrier

Population: 6,550
Adults Without High School Diploma: 10.0%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Rounding out our list at #10 is the city of Greenbrier. Although it has a population of only 6,550 this tiny town is doing big things as it has almost no high school dropouts. The IQs here must be off the charts!

And that’s how you graduate in style

There you have it folks, the Ten Smartest Cities in the state of Tennessee. They have the numbers to back it up so go ahead and visit them to soak up some of the smarts around town. If you’d 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 Tennessee

City	Rank	Population	Adults Without High School Diploma	Teenage High School Dropouts
Germantown	1	39,207	1.9%	0.0%
Brentwood	2	39,059	2.3%	0.0%
Arlington	3	11,623	3.4%	0.0%
Lakeland	4	12,549	5.0%	0.0%
Oakland	5	6,944	5.3%	0.0%
Bartlett	6	57,805	5.6%	1.0%
Atoka	7	8,727	7.4%	0.0%
Collierville	8	46,780	3.4%	1.3%
Mount Juliet	9	27,053	6.9%	1.2%
Greenbrier	10	6,550	10.0%	0.0%
Collegedale	11	9,488	10.9%	0.0%
Hendersonville	12	53,257	6.7%	1.4%
Spring Hill	13	31,467	3.7%	2.0%
Maryville	14	27,824	10.0%	0.9%
Murfreesboro	15	114,660	8.6%	1.3%
Millington	16	11,152	12.1%	0.0%
Clarksville	17	140,563	8.4%	1.9%
Franklin	18	66,596	5.7%	2.5%
Cookeville	19	31,004	13.1%	0.8%
La Vergne	20	33,637	13.7%	0.3%
Signal Mountain	21	8,416	4.8%	3.7%
Oak Ridge	22	29,301	8.0%	2.6%
Clinton	23	9,874	11.7%	2.3%
Church Hill	24	6,742	11.9%	2.1%
Johnson City	25	64,614	11.7%	2.3%
Jackson	26	67,190	13.5%	1.6%
Goodlettsville	27	16,466	11.6%	2.5%
Jefferson City	28	8,342	17.1%	0.0%
Farragut	29	21,111	3.2%	6.0%
Fairview	30	8,020	10.7%	3.5%
Smyrna	31	42,235	9.7%	4.4%
McKenzie	32	5,561	18.0%	0.0%
Milan	33	7,826	12.3%	3.2%
Athens	34	13,603	15.5%	2.1%
Nolensville	35	6,131	2.8%	9.4%
White House	36	10,618	8.1%	6.1%
Kingsport	37	52,835	12.3%	3.8%
Martin	38	11,396	10.7%	5.0%
Cleveland	39	42,331	15.5%	2.4%
Humboldt	40	8,363	18.0%	1.5%
Munford	41	6,001	7.4%	8.1%
Henderson	42	6,429	20.7%	0.0%
Soddy-Daisy	43	13,109	17.0%	2.3%
Brownsville	44	10,079	21.0%	0.0%
East Ridge	45	21,220	13.5%	4.5%
Nashville	46	624,261	13.8%	4.1%
Knoxville	47	181,759	13.0%	4.8%
Sweetwater	48	5,856	21.6%	0.0%
Crossville	49	11,125	21.3%	0.2%
Winchester	50	8,493	22.1%	0.0%
Dickson	51	14,814	15.6%	3.7%
Dayton	52	7,316	20.2%	1.3%
Tullahoma	53	18,900	12.9%	6.0%
Alcoa	54	8,556	15.4%	4.6%
Erwin	55	6,052	23.6%	0.0%
Columbia	56	35,207	16.1%	4.5%
Newport	57	6,890	24.1%	0.0%
Union City	58	10,791	17.5%	3.6%
Manchester	59	10,223	20.0%	2.2%
Lebanon	60	27,847	18.0%	2.8%
Mount Carmel	61	5,443	13.3%	7.8%
Lenoir City	62	8,867	24.7%	0.0%
Ripley	63	8,350	22.2%	1.6%
Lawrenceburg	64	10,440	25.1%	0.0%
Red Bank	65	11,759	11.6%	20.7%
Pulaski	66	7,734	24.5%	1.1%
Harriman	67	6,296	25.5%	0.0%
Bolivar	68	5,275	22.7%	1.5%
Lexington	69	7,771	18.9%	3.6%
Millersville	70	6,481	17.2%	4.8%
Elizabethton	71	14,322	17.6%	4.5%
Chattanooga	72	171,863	15.5%	6.6%
#N/A	73	6,348	16.2%	6.1%
Portland	74	11,853	17.1%	5.5%
Paris	75	10,165	20.3%	2.8%
Pigeon Forge	76	6,004	27.4%	0.0%
Loudon	77	5,606	30.5%	0.0%
Memphis	78	656,715	16.5%	6.6%
Dyersburg	79	16,998	16.9%	6.5%
Gallatin	80	31,800	16.4%	8.2%
Morristown	81	29,152	24.3%	2.0%
Lewisburg	82	11,252	22.3%	2.6%
Kingston	83	5,888	14.0%	19.9%
Jonesborough	84	5,138	15.2%	20.2%
Greeneville	85	15,015	20.2%	5.4%
Fayetteville	86	6,991	19.5%	6.2%
Shelbyville	87	20,616	28.2%	1.8%
Sevierville	88	15,592	18.5%	9.7%
Savannah	89	7,029	22.3%	5.1%
Bristol	90	26,705	18.9%	9.5%
Hartsville/Trousdale County	91	7,859	23.9%	4.7%
Springfield	92	16,598	19.5%	17.5%
Sparta	93	5,036	22.7%	8.0%
Covington	94	9,033	25.8%	4.8%
McMinnville	95	13,600	24.7%	13.0%
Rockwood	96	5,480	26.5%	11.4%
La Follette	97	7,304	33.4%	11.9%

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