USA Today Has Great Charts

The list of America’s Most Literate Cities was released today, with Minneapolis reclaiming the top spot from Seattle. According to USA Today, the big surprise is St. Paul, which has rocketed up the chart, from 9th in ’05, 5th in ’06, and 3rd this year.

This isn’t all that surprising, since Minneapolis/St. Paul is home to several great nonprofit publishing houses (including Graywolf, Coffee House, and Milkweed), a number of universities and colleges, the well-attended Twin Cities Book Festival (organized by Rain Taxi, another outstanding Minneapolis organization), and the Loft Literary Center.

Here’s the full list:

1. Minneapolis
2. Seattle
3. St. Paul
4. Denver
5. Washington
6. St. Louis
7. San Francisco
8. Atlanta
9. Pittsburgh
10. Boston

(To be honest, Atlanta is the one that surprises me. The ATL never seemed like a very literate place when I’ve visited, but what do I know.)

And here’s the list of the top 10 cities in terms of bookstores:

1. Seattle, WA
2. San Francisco, CA
3*. Minneapolis, MN
3*. Cincinnati, OH
5. St. Louis, MO
6. Portland, OR
7. Pittsburgh, PA
8. St. Paul, MN
9. Cleveland, OH
10. Washington, DC

The methodology behind this study is a bit suspect, and in the end, this isn’t all that meaningful, but some of the findings are kind of interesting.

Unsurprisingly, this study meshes with recent NEA findings:

Miller’s findings echo those in a National Endowment for the Arts report last month. The NEA focused on reading for pleasure, but both the NEA and Miller conclude that even as more Americans are earning high school and college degrees, reading is declining.

“We’re getting higher and higher educational attainment levels, and at the same time we’re getting fewer and fewer behaviors (that reflect) what we think educated people ought to do,” Miller says.

The declines in literacy hold true, he says, even when Internet growth is considered.

What a good way to start off the New Year . . .