NEW YORK, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ — The Daily Beast has released data ranking America’s 55 largest cities, from first-to-worst. In a study examining statistics on both educational performance and intellectual environment, the website revealed that Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina polled on top as the smartest, while residents of Northern California’s Fresno had the lowest accumulative IQ.
The Daily Beast’s research team ranked educational performance based on how many residents had attained bachelor’s degrees and graduate degrees. The intellectual environment half of the study comprised of three parts: reviewing nonfiction book sales, measuring the ratio of institutions of higher education and weighing the link between intelligence and political engagement as measured by the percentage of eligible voters who cast ballots in the last presidential election.
Full methodology: www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-04/americas-smartest-cities—from-first-to-worst/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsC4
Metropolitan areas from smartest to least smart:
Raleigh-Durham, NC 170
SF-Oakland-San Jose, CA 165
Boston, MA 162
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 159
Denver, CO 158
Hartford-New Haven, CT 156
Seattle-Tacoma, WA 151
Washington, DC 151
Portland, OR 143
Baltimore, MD 135
Philadelphia, PA 130
Austin, TX 129
New York, NY 128
Salt Lake City, UT 127
Milwaukee, WI 120
Charlotte, NC 119
Columbus, OH 116
Kansas City, KS-MO 116
Nashville, TN 113
San Diego, CA 112
Indianapolis, IN 112
Providence-New Bedford, RI 110
Atlanta, GA 109
Chicago, IL 108
St. Louis, MO 108
Rochester, NY 106
Los Angeles, CA 100
Richmond, VA 100
Pittsburgh, PA 100
Grnd Rpds-Klmzo-Bttle Crk, MI 99
Cleveland, OH 97
WstPlmBch-FrtPerc-VeroBch, FL 97
Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 87
Tucson, AZ 86
Sacramento-Stockton, CA 84
Oklahoma City, OK 84
Jacksonville, FL 83
Greensbro-WnstnSalm-HiPnt, NC 83
Miami, FL 78
Detroit, MI 77
Nrflk-Prtsmth-NwptNws-Hmp, VA 76
Birmingham, AL 75
Cincinnati, OH 72
Buffalo, NY 70
New Orleans, LA 68
Houston, TX 66
Orlndo-Daytona Bch-Mlbrne, FL 66
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX 64
Phoenix, AZ 63
Harrsbrg-Yrk-Lncstr-Lbnon, PA 57
Memphis, TN 48
Louisville, KY 47
San Antonio, TX 26
Las Vegas, NV 11
Fresno-Visalia, CA 3
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CONTACT: Andrew Kirk, +1-212-524-8856, Andrew.kirk@thedailybeast.com