These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Virginia

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 Virginia 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 62 largest cities in Virginia with data. We then crunched the numbers and were left with this set of the brightest cities in the Old Dominion:

Blacksburg
Vienna
Falls Church
Poquoson
Williamsburg
Fairfax
Virginia Beach
Fredericksburg
Purcellville
Salem

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 VA reading, check out:

How we determined the smartest places in the Old Dominion

Before we could dive into the potential IQs of various places in Virginia, 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 62 places in Virginia.

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 62 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 Virginiaâ.

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. Blacksburg

Population: 43,204
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.2%

Graduating early with their diplomas held high are the residents of Blacksburg, Virginia.

With a population of 43,204 and only .2% of their high school students dropping out this city is Virginiaâs best hope for a bright future.

2. Vienna

Population: 16,173
Adults Without High School Diploma: 6.6%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Vienna, Virginia is a very valuable town. Alliteration aside itâs taking the coveted #2 spot on our list with a virtually non-existent dropout rate and a population of just over 16,100.

3. Falls Church

Population: 13,074
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.2%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.5%

Falling into the #3 spot is Falls Church. At around 13,000 residents and only 3.2% of them lacking a high school diploma the guys and gals here are some of the smartest around.

4. Poquoson

Population: 12,103
Adults Without High School Diploma: 7.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Aside from having such a cool name this tiny town is doing big things academically. With the vast majority of their high school students staying in school they are on the road to success.

5. Williamsburg

Population: 14,401
Adults Without High School Diploma: 8.1%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

The iconic and historic town of Williamsburg is coming in at #5 in the list of smartest cities in Virginia. With a population of 14,401 and and virtually no high school dropouts itâs on itâs way to make history yet again.

6. Fairfax

Population: 23,507
Adults Without High School Diploma: 8.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Fairfax earned their ranking fair and square with such a low high school dropout rate despite having a population of over 23,500.

The IQs here must be off the charts!

7. Virginia Beach

Population: 445,623
Adults Without High School Diploma: 6.6%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.9%

The metropolitan area of Virginia Beach has come in at #7 on our list of the smartest cities in Virginia. Boasting the biggest population on our list by far, at 445,623, this city is defying the odds with only 6.6% of the adults lacking a high school diploma.

8. Fredericksburg

Population: 26,632
Adults Without High School Diploma: 8.7%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.8%

In the #8 spot is the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia. With only .8% of high school kids not making it to graduation and 8.7% of the adult population lacking a high school diploma the residents here are some of the smartest around.

9. Purcellville

Population: 8,350
Adults Without High School Diploma: 4.6%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 2.3%

The kids in Purcellville take their studies very seriously as only 2.3% drop out of high school. With only 8,350 residents this small town is on itâs way to doing big things!

10. Salem

Population: 25,120
Adults Without High School Diploma: 10.4%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.7%

Rounding out our list of the smartest cities in the state of Virginia is the city of Salem. With a population of over 25,000 and an impressively low dropout rate the kids here are some of the smartest around.

And thatâs how you graduate in style

There you have it folks, the Ten Smartest Cities in the state of Virginia. 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 Virginia

City	Rank	Population	Adults Without High School Diploma	Teenage High School Dropouts
Blacksburg	1	43,204	3.5%	0.2%
Vienna	2	16,173	6.6%	0.0%
Falls Church	3	13,074	3.2%	0.5%
Poquoson	4	12,103	7.3%	0.0%
Williamsburg	5	14,401	8.1%	0.0%
Fairfax	6	23,507	8.3%	0.0%
Virginia Beach	7	445,623	6.6%	1.9%
Fredericksburg	8	26,632	8.7%	0.8%
Purcellville	9	8,350	4.6%	2.3%
Salem	10	25,120	10.4%	0.7%
Chesapeake	11	228,168	9.0%	1.6%
Colonial Heights	12	17,542	12.8%	0.0%
Farmville	13	8,350	13.5%	0.2%
Charlottesville	14	44,505	11.3%	1.3%
Radford	15	16,993	12.1%	0.9%
Strasburg	16	6,486	15.2%	0.0%
Bridgewater	17	5,812	11.0%	1.9%
Lynchburg	18	77,626	12.7%	1.7%
Hampton	19	136,904	10.6%	2.2%
Bluefield	20	5,375	16.1%	0.0%
Smithfield	21	8,159	10.2%	3.3%
Abingdon	22	8,176	16.2%	0.0%
Newport News	23	181,362	11.2%	3.1%
Leesburg	24	46,211	11.4%	2.7%
Ashland	25	7,264	16.5%	0.0%
Warrenton	26	9,774	9.1%	4.5%
Alexandria	27	146,422	8.7%	5.5%
Manassas	28	40,436	17.3%	0.4%
Culpeper	29	16,968	17.7%	0.0%
Harrisonburg	30	50,821	16.2%	1.8%
Lexington	31	7,114	18.0%	0.0%
Suffolk	32	85,477	12.9%	4.5%
Norfolk	33	244,745	13.4%	4.3%
Winchester	34	27,031	16.7%	1.9%
Staunton	35	24,132	14.8%	4.0%
Manassas Park	36	14,992	18.9%	0.0%
Christiansburg	37	21,427	8.7%	10.0%
Wytheville	38	8,193	21.7%	0.0%
Herndon	39	24,141	16.1%	4.9%
Woodstock	40	5,164	22.5%	0.0%
Dumfries	41	5,122	23.1%	0.0%
Covington	42	5,853	17.7%	3.7%
Roanoke	43	97,949	16.7%	5.7%
Galax	44	6,981	25.7%	0.0%
Waynesboro	45	21,177	15.4%	10.4%
Portsmouth	46	96,007	17.4%	5.1%
Front Royal	47	14,709	16.8%	6.2%
Big Stone Gap	48	5,559	32.6%	0.0%
Richmond	49	211,063	17.6%	7.1%
Danville	50	42,704	21.2%	3.5%
Buena Vista	51	6,683	23.1%	2.1%
Bristol	52	17,595	19.1%	5.0%
Vinton	53	8,129	18.6%	9.6%
Hopewell	54	22,375	19.8%	6.6%
Martinsville	55	13,745	22.5%	4.9%
Pulaski	56	8,993	23.5%	4.5%
South Boston	57	8,069	20.2%	12.9%
Marion	58	5,931	20.4%	12.9%
Richlands	59	5,698	22.8%	7.7%
Franklin	60	8,534	21.9%	15.5%
Petersburg	61	32,439	23.9%	10.1%
Emporia	62	5,682	30.2%	16.8%