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Study Ranked The Smartest States And South Carolina Its Not You

Graduations for the class of 2022 have come and gone. High school seniors have made their college plans and others are starting their careers. Does being from a certain state…

Smartest States South Carolina
Dilok Klaisataporn/Getty Images Plus

Graduations for the class of 2022 have come and gone. High school seniors have made their college plans and others are starting their careers. Does being from a certain state give you an advantage? Obviously, the quality of the school system where you live is going to have an impact. But are certain states smarter than others? Well, PennStakes.com thinks so. They recently conducted research to find out what are the smartest states and South Carolina, well this one wasn't for you!

Some of these rankings do line up with America's top universities, but not all. And are schools like Harvard and Yale a fair representation of the entire state? How could they be when these schools are so exclusive. But gosh, it's hard to believe that in the bottom 5th of all the smartest states is where you find South Carolina.

So where did these rankings come from? PennStakes analyzed several key metrics including IQ scores, SAT scores, and more to create these rankings. You can see the full methodology at the end of this article. 

America's Smartest States (15 Lowest Ranking States)

50. West Virginia

Total Score: 12.6

West Virginia

49. Mississippi

Total Score: 13.3

Mississippi

48. Louisiana

Total Score: 15.2

Louisiana

47. Arkansas

Total Score: 19.1

Arkansas

46. Nevada

Total Score: 20.0

Nevada

45. New Mexico

Total Score: 20.4

New Mexico

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA downtown cityscape and street at twilight.

44. Alabama

Total Score: 22.4

Alabama

43. Oklahoma

Total Score: 22.4

Oklahoma

42. Texas

Total Score: 23.9

Texas

41. South Carolina

Total Score: 28.0

White more than double the bottom two on this list, SC did still sore a dismal 28.0. In contrast the "smartest" state on this list scored a 93.9.

South Carolina Small towns summer

40. Kentucky

Total Score: 30.5

Kentucky

39. Florida

Total Score: 32.4

Jacksonville, Florida Skyline

38. Tennessee

Total Score: 34.2

Memphis Tennessee TN Downtown Drone Skyline Aerial.

37. Arizona

Total Score: 35.9

Arizona

36. Idaho

Total Score: 36.5

Idaho

Top 15 Smartest States

15. Nebraska

Total Score: 52.5

Nebraska

14. Kansas

Total Score: 53.3

Liberty Memorial and Union Station aerial views, downtown Kansas City

13. Utah

Total Score: 55.5

Winter daytime shot of Salt Lake City. Featured is the temple from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or the Mormons

12. Maine

Total Score: 55.8

Maine

11. New York

Total Score: 57.8

New YorkRoy Rochlin/Getty Images

10. Washington

Total Score: 60.3

Washington State

9. Minnesota

Total Score: 67.0

Minnesota

8. Colorado

Total Score: 69.4

Colorado

7. New Jersey

Total Score: 69.5

New Jersey

6. New Hampshire

Total Score: 70.5

New Hampshire

5. Vermont

Total Score: 72.2

VermontCapitol

4. Virginia

Total Score: 72.5

Virginia

3. Maryland

Total Score: 72.8

Maryland

2. Connecticut

Total Score: 73.8

ConnecticutMark Metcalfe/Getty Images

1. Massachusetts

Total Score: 93.9

Massachusetts decidedly takes the win, with a score a full 20 points higher than the 2nd place state.

Massachusetts
Melanie Day is a graduate of North Carolina State University. She has worked for Beasley since 2012 in a variety of behind-the-scenes roles in both digital and promotions. Melanie writes about a diverse range of topics some of her favorites include travel, restaurants, Taylor Swift, and college athletics. When not at work you'll find her at a country concert or NC State sporting event.