These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Tennessee

By John McLean - Jan. 26, 2016

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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.

For more TN reading, check out:

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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Author

John McLean

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Topics: Rankings