These Are The 10 Smartest Cities In Pennsylvania

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

City	Rank	Population	Adults Without High School Diploma	Teenage High School Dropouts
Franklin Park	1	9,285	1.0%	0.0%
Pleasant Hills	2	6,241	2.8%	0.0%
State College	3	11,006	3.1%	0.2%
Camp Hill	4	5,620	3.8%	0.0%
Jefferson Hills	5	8,053	4.4%	0.2%
Perkasie	6	5,880	5.2%	0.0%
Economy	7	7,012	5.8%	0.0%
Monroeville	8	21,635	5.9%	0.0%
Swissvale	9	14,893	4.0%	2.4%
Conshohocken	10	6,123	6.1%	0.0%
Swissvale	11	6,915	6.2%	0.0%
White Oak	12	6,167	6.2%	0.0%
Greensburg	13	10,187	6.6%	0.0%
Wyomissing	14	7,632	6.2%	0.7%
Plum	15	19,420	5.6%	2.0%
Elizabet	16	6,685	6.5%	0.7%
Wilson	17	5,261	6.9%	0.0%
Brentwood	18	6,975	6.9%	0.0%
Mount Joy	19	5,289	7.0%	0.0%
Lansdowne	20	7,558	6.8%	0.9%
Munhall	21	8,336	7.1%	0.0%
Bellevue	22	6,177	5.8%	2.9%
Hatboro	23	5,114	7.3%	0.0%
Dormont	24	6,479	4.5%	3.7%
Dunmore	25	9,843	7.5%	0.0%
Carnegie	26	5,632	7.1%	1.4%
Brookhaven	27	6,047	7.7%	0.0%
Phoenixville	28	11,821	7.8%	0.0%
Castle Shannon	29	6,315	7.1%	2.0%
Morrisville	30	5,856	8.1%	0.0%
Archbald	31	5,195	8.2%	0.0%
New Cumberland	32	5,386	8.6%	0.0%
#N/A	33	23,709	4.3%	6.1%
Yeadon	34	7,956	7.6%	2.3%
Kingston	35	10,009	8.2%	1.3%
Ridley Park	36	5,084	8.1%	2.4%
Hermitage	37	12,147	5.8%	6.8%
Whitehall	38	10,429	9.4%	0.0%
Canonsburg	39	6,650	9.4%	0.0%
Carlisle	40	11,899	9.5%	0.1%
Pittsburgh	41	202,690	9.0%	2.0%
Glenolden	42	5,059	8.6%	2.6%
Lititz	43	6,723	9.7%	0.0%
Bloomsburg	44	6,060	9.1%	2.2%
Wilkinsburg	45	11,612	9.2%	1.6%
Baldwin	46	14,152	7.0%	5.9%
West Mifflin	47	14,618	5.8%	9.5%
DuBois	48	5,471	7.6%	5.5%
Northampton	49	7,043	10.8%	0.0%
West Chester	50	8,888	10.3%	1.1%
Warren	51	6,618	8.1%	5.7%
Blakely	52	5,123	7.7%	7.4%
Meadville	53	8,066	11.0%	1.9%
Doyle	54	6,605	7.2%	10.4%
Lower Burrell	55	8,638	7.2%	12.6%
Mechanicsburg	56	6,405	10.7%	3.1%
Quake	57	6,170	13.2%	0.0%
Jeannette	58	6,915	9.3%	5.4%
Collingdale	59	5,537	9.7%	4.8%
Emmaus	60	8,227	10.1%	4.6%
St. Marys	61	9,632	9.9%	5.3%
Altoona	62	31,038	10.9%	3.9%
Connellsville	63	5,185	14.1%	0.0%
Darby	64	5,832	13.7%	1.3%
Old Forge	65	6,267	9.2%	9.1%
Erie	66	64,084	13.4%	2.5%
Monessen	67	5,709	13.0%	3.3%
Pottsville	68	10,098	12.0%	4.8%
Bethlehem	69	48,339	14.1%	2.6%
Ellwood City	70	5,525	9.3%	11.1%
Oil City	71	6,991	11.8%	5.5%
Pott	72	15,435	14.7%	2.4%
Bristol	73	6,687	12.2%	5.1%
Washington	74	9,059	14.7%	2.6%
New Kensington	75	9,328	11.6%	6.1%
Lansdale	76	11,416	10.6%	7.9%
Middl	77	5,687	13.0%	4.9%
Wilkes-Barre	78	25,720	16.3%	2.3%
Hanover	79	10,769	15.4%	2.7%
Columbia	80	7,148	15.2%	3.2%
Pittston	81	5,357	12.2%	7.4%
Downin	82	5,585	10.5%	11.6%
Tamaqua	83	5,021	16.9%	3.2%
Sunbury	84	6,557	21.7%	2.5%
Scranton	85	49,222	14.2%	5.3%
Butler	86	9,236	11.7%	9.7%
McKeesport	87	13,772	13.7%	5.7%
Nanticoke	88	7,428	13.8%	6.3%
Ephrata	89	9,316	12.2%	9.9%
Easton	90	16,599	19.3%	3.9%
Sharon	91	9,555	13.5%	8.2%
Uniontown	92	7,136	18.0%	4.5%
New Castle	93	15,696	15.0%	6.2%
Palmyra	94	5,405	11.3%	25.0%
Aliquippa	95	6,730	11.8%	22.5%
Carbondale	96	6,275	15.3%	7.2%
Beaver Falls	97	5,108	17.5%	5.5%
Philadelphia	98	1,009,812	18.6%	5.3%
Williamsport	99	17,032	14.5%	8.5%
Lewi	100	5,639	13.7%	10.3%
Milton	101	5,008	15.9%	6.9%
Chambersburg	102	13,364	18.8%	5.5%
Bradford	103	5,615	15.3%	8.6%
Lancaster	104	36,001	23.2%	6.4%
Johnstown	105	14,555	16.6%	8.9%
Norri	106	22,270	18.3%	8.3%
Chester	107	20,353	21.1%	8.0%
Coatesville	108	7,317	19.6%	8.5%
Waynesboro	109	7,480	15.4%	15.8%
Reading	110	50,053	36.3%	8.2%
Allentown	111	72,784	23.0%	8.7%
Lebanon	112	16,040	25.6%	8.7%
Hazleton	113	15,733	23.5%	11.1%
Berwick	114	6,995	17.1%	17.3%
York	115	25,962	24.0%	12.6%
Harrisburg	116	30,242	21.1%	16.7%

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