Minneapolis Named America's Most Literate City

Minneapolis, Minnesota, was named America's Most Literate City for 2007 based on a survey conducted by Central Connecticut State University.

City Specifics

The survey ranks cities with a population of 250,000 or more, based on 6 key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources. The 2007 survey marks the fifth year of the America's Most Literate City ranking and assessed 69 cities.

The other highly-literate cities in the top ten listed by ranking are: Minneapolis, Minnesota; Seattle, Washington; St. Paul, Minnesota; Denver, Colorado; Washington, D.C.; St. Louis, Missouri; San Francisco, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and, Boston, Massachusetts.

Minneapolis, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Denver, and Washington, D.C. have been at the top of the study since the inception of the study. St. Paul, Minnesota, is one of few showing increases in newspaper circulation, the number of library branches and circulation, and public access to the Internet, and for support to bookstores.

What It Means

Have you read a good book lately? If you are like half of country, probably not, per National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) statistics about many Americans don't read a single book all year. Its most recent report assesses how Americans with declining frequency and at lower comprehension levels. Combining the NEA report with the America's Most Literate City survey provides an idea of who is reading and where.

While the general American education level is rising - 43 of the cities in the study have a higher percentage of high school graduates than they did five years ago, and 46 of the cities have a higher percentage of college graduates - they are reading fewer newspapers. Similarly, no city has more independent bookstores than it did in 2003, and 95 percent (57 out of 60) have fewer retail stores.