Buffalo literacy up from 2011

blog by Kathryn Przybyla • February 07, 2013 @ 11:32am

Coming in at number 29, Buffalo has made the list for the “most literate cities” in the United States for 2012.

In a study from USA Today, Washington, D.C. has topped the list again (for the third year in a row), followed by Seattle and Minneapolis, rounding out the top thee spots.

According to USA Today, “The study, conducted by Central Connecticut State University president John Miller, is based on data that includes the number of bookstores, library resources, newspaper circulation, Internet resources and educational levels. Miller says the study is aimed at shifting attention from school test scores on reading ‘to how much people are reading, and where are they reading the most.”

With the world going digital, the study additionally included online book orders, e-book readers and page views on local newspaper websites.

Here is a portion of top 50 “most literate” cities list below:

1. Washington, D.C. (same as in 2011)
2. Seattle (same as in 2011)
3. Minneapolis (same as in 2011)
4. Pittsburgh (up from No. 6)
5. Denver (up from No. 10)
6. St. Paul (up from No. 12)
7. Boston (down from No. 5)
8. Atlanta (down from No. 4)
9. St. Louis (down from No. 8)
10. Portland, Ore. (down from No. 11)
11. San Francisco (down from No. 9)
12. Cincinnati (down from No. 7)
13. Kansas City, Mo. (up from No. 14)
14. Cleveland (down from No. 13)
15.5 Honolulu (up from No. 19)
15.5 Oakland (down from No. 15)
17. Virginia Beach (up from No. 20)
18. Raleigh, N.C. (down from No. 16)
19. Baltimore (down from No. 18)
20. Tampa (up from No. 25)
21. New York (up from No. 22.5)
22. Tulsa (down from No. 21)
23. Austin (down from No. 22.5)
24. Lexington-Fayette, Ky. (same as 2011)
25. New Orleans (down from No. 17)
26. Nashville-Davidson (up from No. 27)
27. Colorado Springs (down from No. 26)
28. Lincoln, Neb. (same as 2011)
29. Buffalo (up from No. 33.5)
30. Philadelphia (up from No. 31)