North Dakota is Smarter Than You Think—Literally!

Grab your No. 2 pencils and sharpen your wits, because North Dakota just made the honor roll! According to World Population Review, the Peace Garden State ranked third smartest in the nation for 2025, with an impressive average IQ score of 103.8. That’s right—North Dakota isn’t just full of wide-open spaces and polite people, it’s also brimming with brainpower.

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Smart and Surrounded: The Upper Midwest Brings the Brainpower

Our neighbors aren’t exactly slacking, either. Minnesota pulled in at fifth place with an average IQ of 103.7, Montana took seventh with 103.4, and South Dakota nabbed the 13th spot with 102.8. It turns out the Upper Midwest is a pretty cerebral place—must be all that fresh air and thoughtful pondering while shoveling snow.

Cracking the Code: How State Smarts Are Calculated

But how do the smarty-pants folks at World Population Review figure all this out? They look at more than just IQ. They also factor in SAT and ACT scores, plus how many folks have college degrees. Then, like any good math test, they crunch the numbers. Each state’s scores are compared to national medians, and their IQ scores are even doubled in the equation.

Read More: Retiring Soon? See Why North Dakota’s a Top Pick

So, the next time someone jokes that there’s “not much going on” in North Dakota, you can kindly inform them that what is going on is a whole lot of thinking. From book smarts to common sense (and maybe a little snow-sculpting strategy), our state is holding its own on the national brain-o-meter. Whether you're solving equations, fixing tractors, or just winning at trivia night in Bismarck, take pride in knowing you're doing it in one of the smartest spots in the country. Not bad for a place where the cows sometimes outnumber the people!