These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Pennsylvania

by John McLeanRankings - 2 years ago

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 Pennsylvania 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 116 largest cities in Pennsylvania with data. We then crunched the numbers and were left with this set of the brightest cities in the Keystone State:

1. Franklin Park
2. Pleasant Hills
3. State College
4. Camp Hill
5. Jefferson Hills
6. Perkasie
7. Economy
8. Monroeville
9. Swissvale
10. Conshohocken

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 Keystone State

Before we could dive into the potential IQs of various places in Pennsylvania, 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 116 places in Pennsylvania.

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 116 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 Pennsylvania”.

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. Franklin Park

Population: 9,285
Adults Without High School Diploma: 1.0%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Taking the diploma and graduating at the top of the class is the town of Franklin Park, Pennsylvania. With just over 9,200 residents and just 1% of the adult population walking around without a high school diploma this city has definitely earned it’s #1 spot.

Franklin Park may be the Keystone State’s best hope for a bright future.

2. Pleasant Hills

Population: 6,241
Adults Without High School Diploma: 2.8%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

It’s not hard to imagine that living in Pleasant Hills is well…pleasant. Especially with such intelligent neighbors to see everyday. With an ultra low high school dropout rate this little town is moving up to do big things.

3. State College

Population: 11,006
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.1%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.2%

State College, which is in fact not just a giant college campus after all, is shaping up to be one smart cookie. With just over 11,000 residents this town is definitely wearing out it’s library card.

4. Camp Hill

Population: 5,620
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.8%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

The town of Camp Hill has settled in nicely to the #4 spot on our list. As a small town of 5,620 with a great track record for keeping kids in school until they graduate they practically walked onto our list of smartest cities.

5. Jefferson Hills

Population: 8,053
Adults Without High School Diploma: 4.4%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.2%

Midway through our rankings lies the city of Jefferson Hills. In a town where only .2% of high school students drop out it’s hard not to admire the intelligence coming from the people living there.

6. Perkasie

Population: 5,880
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.2%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

Perkasie, Pennsylvania can be found in the #6 spot of smartest cities. With such great numbers and a total population hovering at 5,880 people it’s a shoe in as one of the smartest cities in the Keystone State.

7. Economy

Population: 7,012
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.8%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

At #7 is the city of Economy. With a low drop out rate and just over 7,000 people it’s easy to see why the area has made the list.
Just imagine the average IQ around here!

8. Monroeville

Population: 21,635
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.9%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

With just over 21,000 residents Monroeville is not only smart as a whip but also the largest city to make our list. Defying the stereotype that big cities are lacking in education and opportunity Monroeville keeps the high school dropout rate almost to zero and has been aptly named one of the smartest cities around.

9. Swissvale

Population: 14,893
Adults Without High School Diploma: 4.0%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 2.4%

Swissvale, our #9 town, earned its place on the list of smartest cities with only 4% of the adult population missing their high school diplomas. With a reputable 14,893 residents this little city is doing big things.

10. Conshohocken

Population: 6,123
Adults Without High School Diploma: 6.1%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%

It’s not shocking that the town of Conshohocken rounded out our list of the ten smartest cities in the state of Pennsylvania with an almost non-existent high school dropout rate and that cool of name.

This is definitely a town you want to send your kids to school in.

And that’s how you graduate in style

That is our definitive ranking of the 10 Smartest Cities in Pennsylvania. 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 Keystone state. Be sure to visit these towns to see their intelligence first hand and experience it for yourself. And next time you’re looking for career advice head to zippia.com to have all of your quesitons answered.

Detailed List Of Smartest Cities In Pennsylvania

Facebook Discussion

Related Articles

These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Washington
2 years ago

These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Mississippi
2 years ago

These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Missouri
2 years ago

These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Ohio
2 years ago

These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In New Mexico
2 years ago

These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Kentucky
2 years ago