Which is South Dakota’s Most Educated Town?
When you think of large collections of smart people, college towns usually come to mind. After all, those places are filled with academic types, driving up the average IQ of the town they live in.
But when Business Insider's Andy Kiersz used Census Bureau data to determine the most educated town in each state, South Dakota's smartest didn't have a university in sight. The Rushmore State town with the highest percentage of adults over 25 with at least a bachelor's degree is Dakota Dunes, where 56.3% of the adult population is college educated.
The ranking deserves a bit of an asterisk though because Dakota Dunes is an unincorporated community, not an actually town or city. The master-planned residential and commercial development covers about 2,000 acres in Union County and, as of 2013, was home to 2,688 people.
Regardless of its official classification, it is a nice honor for Dakota Dunes, but any celebration over the designation will be a bit tempered when you consider the 56.3% is the seventh lowest among smartest U.S. cities. Chevy Chase, Maryland is considered the brainiest town in America (92.7% of adults with at least a bachelor's degree), Fargo is 50th on the list (39%).
View the entire map of the Most Educated Town in Each State here.