America’s Most Literate Cities, 2006

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

This study attempts to capture one critical index of our nation’s social health—the literacy of its major cities (population of 250,000 and above). The study focuses on six important indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and online resources. Because of the number and complexity of the variables, the variety of ways in which the resource data are gathered and presented, and the variability in the timeliness of the data, the ranking is necessarily an interpretation.

Rank City Rank City Rank City
1. Seattle, Wash. 24. Baltimore, Md. 47. Anchorage, Alaska
2. Minneapolis, Minn. 25. Milwaukee, Wis. 48. Wichita, Kans.
3. Atlanta, Ga. 26. San Diego, Calif. 49. Dallas, Tex.
Washington, DC 27. Virginia Beach, Va. 50. San Jose, Calif.
5. St. Paul, Minn 28. Sacramento, Calif. 51. Newark, N.J.
6. Pittsburgh, Pa. 29. Indianapolis, Ind. 52. Detroit, Mich.
7. Cincinnati, Ohio 30. Lexington-Fayette, Ky. 53. Plano, Tex.
8. Denver, Colo. 31. Omaha, Nebr. 54. Memphis, Tenn.
9. San Francisco, Calif. 32. Toledo, Ohio 55. Houston, Tex.
10. Portland, Ore. 33. Colorado Springs, Colo. 56. Riverside, Calif.
11. Boston, Mass. Philadelphia, Pa. 57. Los Angeles, Calif.
12. St. Louis, Mo. 35. Oakland, Calif. 58. Mesa, Ariz.
13. Raleigh, N.C. 36. Tucson, Ariz. 59. Phoenix, Ariz.
14. Cleveland, Ohio 37. Louisville, Ky. 60. Fresno, Calif.
15. Columbus, Ohio 38. Albuquerque, N.M. 61. Santa Ana, Calif.
16. Austin, Tex. 39. Chicago, Ill. 62. San Antonio, Tex.
17. Kansas City, Mo. 40. Las Vegas, Nev. 63. Long Beach, Calif.
18. Nashville-Davidson, Tenn. 41. New Orleans, La. 64. Anaheim, Calif.
19. Charlotte, N.C. 42. New York, N.Y. Arlington, Tex.
Tulsa, Okla. 43. Oklahoma City, Okla. 66. Bakersfield, Calif.
21. Tampa, Fla. 44. Buffalo, N.Y. 67. Aurora, Colo.
22. Honolulu, Hawaii 45. Fort Worth, Tex. 68. Corpus Christi, Tex.
23. Miami, Fla. Jacksonville, Fla. 69. El Paso, Tex.
Source: Study conducted by Dr. Jack Miller, President of Central Connecticut State University, 2006. Web: /node/4994 . Used with permission.

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