Washington, D.C. Ranked Most Literate City In The United States

Washington, D.C. most literate city in US

via USA Today

Central Connecticut State University President Jack Miller has released his yearly survey on the literary acumen of US cities. And for the second year in a row, Washington, D.C. is the most literate city in the country. 

The ranking were based on number of bookstores, library resources, newspaper circulation and Internet resources. Here's the entire list: 

  • Washington, D.C. 
  • Seattle
  • Minneapolis
  • Atlanta
  • Boston
  • Pittsburgh
  • Cincinnati
  • St. Louis
  • San Francisco
  • Denver

There's a couple of interesting things that we can learn from this. For example, I had no idea Red Sox fans could read. And this will give Seattle another reason to be self-righteous.

Also, how did New York City not even rank in the top 10? It's the heart of the publishing industry, and it tied with Austin, TX at 22.5? Pittsburgh ranked higher?!? I'm not even sure that's a real city. I question the veracity of this survey. 

Check out this link to see the full list, and then come back here and complain about where your city ranked. Just be thankful that you don't live in Bakersfield, CA, the lowest ranked city on the list. (If you do live in Bakersfield, sorry!!!)

Rob Hart

News by Rob Hart

Rob Hart is the class director at LitReactor, as well as the associate publisher for MysteriousPress.com. He's the author of The Last Safe Place: A Zombie Novella, and his short stories have appeared in publications like Shotgun Honey, ThuglitCrime Factory, and Needle: A Magazine of Noir. His debut novel, New Yorked, will be published by Polis Books in June 2015. He lives in New York City, and you can find his website at www.robwhart.com.

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Comments

Laramore Black's picture
Laramore Black from Joplin, Missouri is reading Mario Kart 8 January 26, 2012 - 4:36pm

That's odd, because I remember seeing in a documentary called "Waiting For a Superman" that D.C had one of the lowest rankings in our education system. Maybe they just suck at Math.

GuidScotsTongue's picture
GuidScotsTongue March 1, 2012 - 8:59pm

Aha! Perhaps all those bookstores, etc. would go out of business but for the tourist trade. It could just be that the local population is no better than the ignorami in NYC, but the visitors think this is a good place to show off their education.

Or, worse, perhaps the visitors are buying books so they'll have something to read as they wait in the lines that Homeland Security has caused to appear at our beloved national holy places, like the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian buildings.
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