Voracious newspaper and magazine readers in the nation’s capital have made the District of Columbia the fifth most literate city in the nation, an annual survey has found.
Jack Miller of Central Connecticut State University crunched numbers including library resources, newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, adult education level and the size of the periodical industry in 69 cities with at least 250,000 residents.
The bookworm index ranked Minneapolis number one, followed by Seattle, St. Paul, Minn., and Denver.
The other top 10 most literate cities were St. Louis, San Francisco, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Boston.
D.C.’s vibrant magazine industry – the District tied with St. Louis for the most magazine and journal publishers – apparently helped thrust it into the ranks of the leading readers. The District also tied with Newark, N.J. for first in newspaper circulation.
The list, reported by LiveScience.com on Friday, has come out ever year since 2003. D.C. has been in the top 10 each year.
