Most & Least Literate People

Central Connecticut State University just released a new study of the most & least literate populations in the United States. They looked at all cities with a population over 250,000, and by examining journal & newspaper subscriptions, self-reported use of internet news, booksales, library data, and whatever else, they produced ranking of literacy.

The most literate:

5. Boston

4. Atlanta (I'm very surprised by this one)

3. Minneapolis, MN (I'm a bit surprised on this one)

2. Seatle, WA

1. Washington, DC (the most literate people in America)

The study found (to my surprise) that wealth and literacy are not related. Just because your city has money does not mean that people can read. The author wrote, "Cleveland ranks second lowest for median family income . . . and yet, thanks to its great library system (ranked #1 . . .) and strong newspaper (#6) and magazine (#5) circulations, it is ranked 13th most literate in the survey. On the other hand, Anchorage, AK is ranked 5th in median family income and only 61st in literacy."

Now the fun part. Who are the most illiterate people in America?

73. El Paso, TX

74. Corpus Christi, TX

And the highest rate of illiterate people live in . . .

75. Bakersfield, CA

You can find the entire report and ranking for this year and previous years at: http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=11096