America’s Most Literate Cities, 2005

Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster 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. Tulsa, Okla. 47. Buffalo, N.Y.
2. Minneapolis, Minn. 24. Tampa, Fla. 48. Dallas, Tex.
3. Washington, D.C. 26. Toledo, Ohio 49. Wichita, Kans.
4. Atlanta, Ga. 27. Lexington, Ky. 50. Jacksonville, Fla.
5. San Francisco, Calif. 27. Miami, Fla. 51. San Jose, Calif.
6. Denver, Colo. 29. Milwaukee, Wis. 52. Mesa, Ariz.
7. Boston, Mass. 30. Oakland, Calif. 53. Houston, Tex.
8. Pittsburgh, Pa. 31. Omaha, Nebr. 54. Phoenix, Ariz.
9. Cincinnati, Ohio 32. New York, N.Y. 55. Aurora, Colo.
10. St. Paul, Minn. 32. Philadelphia, Pa. 56. Detroit, Mich.
11. Portland, Ore. 34. Tucson, Ariz. 57. Arlington, Tex.
12. Columbus, Ohio 34. Honolulu, Hawaii 58. Memphis, Tenn.
13. Raleigh, N.C. 36. Albuquerque, N.M. 58. Riverside, Calif.
14. Kansas City, Mo. 37. Newark, N.J. 60. Los Angeles, Calif.
15. St. Louis, Mo. 38. Oklahoma City, Okla. 61. Long Beach, Calif.
16. Austin, Tex. 39. San Diego, Calif. 62. Santa Ana, Calif.
17. Nashville, Tenn. 40. Louisville, Ky. 63. Fresno, Calif.
18. Cleveland, Ohio 41. Virginia Beach, Va. 64. San Antonio, Tex.
19. Colorado Springs, Colo. 42. New Orleans, La. 65. Bakersfield, Calif.
20. Charlotte, N.C. 43. Anchorage, Alaska 66. Anaheim, Calif.
21. Baltimore, Md. 44. Las Vegas, Nev. 67. Corpus Christi, Tex.
22. Sacramento, Calif. 44. Fort Worth, Tex. 68. El Paso, Tex.
23. Indianapolis, Ind. 46. Chicago, Ill. 69. Stockton, Calif.
Source: Study conducted by Dr. Jack Miller, President of Central Connecticut State University, 2007. Web: http://www.ccsu.edu/amlc07/ . Used with permission.

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