Central Valley cities ranked among lowest for literacy

NEW BRITAIN, CONN.
February 18, 2013 11:10am

Attention Hollywood: For the sequel to “Dumb and Dumber,” you might want to pick the Central Valley for your location shoots.

According to the rankings in the newest “America’s Most Literate Cities” study, Bakersfield, Fresno and Stockton are at or close to the bottom when it comes to the overall literacy levels of their residents.

Drawing from a variety of available data resources, the study from Central Connecticut State University President John Miller ranks the largest cities (population 250,000 and above) in the United States.

It focuses on six key indicators of literacy: number of bookstores, educational attainment, Internet resources, library resources, periodical publishing resources, and newspaper circulation.

“This set of factors measures people's use of their literacy and thus presents a large-scale portrait of our nation’s cultural vitality. From this data we can better perceive the extent and quality of the long-term literacy essential to individual economic success, civic participation, and the quality of life in a community and a nation,” writes Mr. Miller.

Based on that, Bakersfield ranks dead last at 76th. Stockton ranks 74th, Fresno 70th and Sacramento 42nd.

At the other end are Washington, D.C., ranked first, followed by Seattle, Wash.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Denver, Colo., in the top five.