By John McLean
Zippia for the NKyTribune
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 Kentucky that might have skipped a grade…or two.
You may be wondering how does one determine how intelligent a town really is?
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 78 largest cities in Kentucky with data.
How we determined the smartest places in the Bluegrass State
Before we could dive into the potential IQs of various places in Kentucky, 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.
A total of 78 Kentucky cities were included in rankings.
Zippia then looked at the following criteria to determine the cream from the crop when it comes to smarts:
Percentage of adults with at least a high school education (Higher is smarter)
Percentage of teenagers that are high school dropouts (Lower is smarter)
The data comes directly from the latest American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau.
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 78 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 Kentucky”.
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.
We then crunched the numbers and were left with this set of the brightest cities in the Bluegrass State:
1. Union
Population: 5,569
Adults Without High School Diploma: 2.7%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%
Graduating early with their diplomas held high are the citizens in Union, Kentucky. With a population of 5,569, an almost nonexistent high school dropout rate, and only 2.7% of the adult population without a high school diploma this town earned its #1 spot.
2. Edgewood
Population: 8,665
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%
Taking the bittersweet spot of #2 Edgewood, Kentucky has made the list with almost no high school dropouts and only 3.3% of the adult population missing a high school diploma.
3. Fort Mitchell
Population: 8,209
Adults Without High School Diploma: 3.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%
Taking the bronze medal on our list is the city of Fort Mitchell. With such great numbers the kids here are definitely getting a quality education.
4. Cold Spring
Population: 6,093
Adults Without High School Diploma: 4.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%
Taking the #4 spot Cold Spring is a small town of 6,093 residents. But the kids here are crushing it in school with an ultra low high school dropout rate and only 4.3% of the adult population missing a high school diploma.
5. Middletown
Population: 7,333
Adults Without High School Diploma: 4.9%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%
Middletown is fittingly in the middle of our list at the #5 spot on the list of smartest cities in Kentucky. With a population of just over 7,300 people and almost no high school dropouts this tiny town is doing big things!
6. Villa Hills
Population: 7,359
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.3%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%
It might sound like a vacation spot but Villa Hills is clearly a place of study. A town of 7,359 this area boasts almost no high school dropouts and a small population of 5.3% of adults without high school diplomas.
7. Lyndon
Population: 11,167
Adults Without High School Diploma: 6.2%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%
Sitting pretty at #7 is the town of Lyndon. At a population of 11,167 and 6.2% of the adult population lacking a high school diploma the kids here are in study hall every day. Way to go!
8. St. Matthews
Population: 17,686
Adults Without High School Diploma: 5.1%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 1.7%
At #8 is the city of St. Matthews with a population over 17,686. This metropolitan city is breaking the stereotype that big cities lack education and opportunity with a high school dropout rate of just 1.7% and just over 5% of residents missing a high school diploma.
9. Douglass Hills
Population: 5,566
Adults Without High School Diploma: 7.1%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%
Cutting it close is the town of Douglass Hills at #9 with a population of just over 5,500 residents. With so few high school dropouts it’s no surprise this town made our smartest cities list.
10. Taylor Mill
Population: 6,682
Adults Without High School Diploma: 7.5%
Teenage High School Dropouts: 0.0%
Rounding out our list at #10 is the city of Taylor Mill. With a population hovering around the 6,682 mark, almost no high school dropouts, and a population of adults without high school degress of only 7.5% the residents here are some of the brightest bulbs in the box.
Here are the other Northern Kentucky cities included in the list, by ranking:
11. Ft. Wright
12. Ft. Thomas
13. Erlanger
16. Bellevue
17. Independence
19. Florence
25. Highland Heights
31. Alexandria
49. Dayton
58. Elsmere
64. Covington
72. Newport
Zippia is a California-based career resource company. For more information, click here .