North Hudson, River Falls, Hudson Lead St. Croix County on Brainpower Index

The Village of North Hudson in St. Croix County ranked 15th among 294 small-size Wisconsin communities in a brainpower analysis of its residents, according to a business publication from mid-November. North Hudson ranked 1,086 nationally among 10,450 communities with populations between 1,000 to 9,999 persons. In the same analysis, River Falls ranked 18th and Hudson 21st among 71 Wisconsin communities with populations of 10,000 to 49,999. Nationally River Falls ranked 772nd and Hudson at 852nd among the 3,012 communities falling within the mid-size population range.

The summary was put together by G. Scott Thomas, a correspondent for Business Journals. His mid-November column, On Numbers, examined the brainpower of U.S. communities. Thomas used raw data from the 2009 American Community Survey the U.S. Census Bureau conducts. Each locale’s score is based on its percentage of adults (25 year or older) according to educational achievement, including:

• dropped out before high school graduation
• obtained a high school diploma
• obtained an associate degree or attended college, but did not obtain a 4-year degree
• obtained a bachelors degree
• obtained a graduate and/or professional degree

From Thomas’ matrix, North Hudson’s brainpower index scored 12.134. River Falls has an index of 8.531 and Hudson’s is 7.532.

Other St. Croix County communities on the top 100 list of small-size cities in Wisconsin include Hammond in 79th place (brainpower index of 1.227), Baldwin in 83rd (index of 1.135), New Richmond 85th (index of 1.113) and Somerset at 86th (index of 1.091). Nearby St. Croix Falls (Polk County) ranked 48th (index of 4.272) and Prescott, in Pierce County, is 49th with an index of 4.041.

“The number of St. Croix County communities on Wisconsin’s top 100 brainpower list is impressive,” said William Rubin, executive director of St. Croix Economic Development Corporation. “Back in the day, an important factor in determining a site for a new facility may have been the sheer brawn of the local workforce. Today, it’s about brainpower and technology as measured by educational attainment. With St. Croix’s close proximity to a major urban area like Minneapolis-St. Paul, there are numerous opportunities for business expansion and attraction. St. Croix’s workforce has the technical capacity on many fronts.”

Nationally, Chevy Chase Village, Maryland topped the brainpower index for small communities. According to Thomas, nearly two-thirds of the adults in Chevy Chase Village hold graduate degrees to score 47.378 on the brainpower index. Shorewood Hills, a suburb of Madison, Wisconsin, is the state’s highest ranked small city, and placed third nationally with an index of 45.401.

Stanford, California, with 13,700 residents and home to Stanford University, is On Numbers’ smartest community for mid-size communities between 10,000 and 49,999 residents. Stanford’s index is 46.038. An estimated 3,012 cities in the U.S. fall within this population range. Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin is the state’s highest ranked city and is 35th among the 3,012 cities.

In the 50,000 to 99,999 population matrix, Thomas concludes Bethesda, Maryland and Palo Alto, California, located just two miles from On Numbers’ smartest mid-size community, are the nation’s smartest communities. A total of 483 communities fall within the population ranges and Waukesha, Wisconsin (Waukesha County) led the state’s list and is ranked 181st nationally. Nearby Eau Claire (Eau Claire County) was next in the national ranking at 195. Woodbury, Minnesota is located just west of Hudson, Wisconsin and ranked 44th among the 483 cities.

For cities with a population greater than 100,000 residents, Thomas says Ann Arbor, Michigan, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Berkeley, California top the list of 269 communities. Madison, Wisconsin topped the state’s brainpower ranking, and is 13th nationally. All four cities are major college towns.  

In addition to his regular On Numbers research, Thomas is the editor of Demographics Daily, an online newsletter that reports on demographic and economic trends, which averages over 100,000 page-views each month. He is the author of five books, including The Rating Guide to Life in America's Fifty States and The United States of Suburbia.