Have you ever wondered which states have, on average, the most intelligent people? Motovo, a real estate company, was curious as well and conducted research on the matter. The company analyzed more than 500,000 tweets composed by people around the U.S. looking for indicators of reading ability, such as grammar, word choice and spelling. Researchers then compiled the data into an interactive map of the U.S. The study results indicated that some states are indeed more intelligent (or at least better readers) than others.
The best and worst states
Results showed that Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Massachusetts, Vermont and Wyoming ranked among the states with the highest reading level. Researchers discovered that all states scored collectively below a sixth grade reading level. Louisiana, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas were among the lowest scores, hovering around a fourth grade level.
Motovo's study didn't account for the age of Twitter users. Researchers noted that because people post quick and short messages on the social platform, the reading level analysis may have been skewed.
IQ and reading skill
Using the study's tweet results to discover state IQ is challenging because researchers analyzed grammar, word choice and spelling. Studies conducted on reading, intelligence and dyslexia (a reading impairment) indicate that linking IQ and reading ability isn't accurate. Rather, intelligence and reading skill develop independently. However, researchers did include a map of the U.S. that indicated IQ by state. Interestingly enough, many of the states that scored low in reading also had low average IQs, and the same goes for high reading and high IQ.
Massachusetts had the highest average IQ score at 104.3 (also on the high end of the reading spectrum), while Mississippi had the lowest at 94.2 (also on the poor end of the reading spectrum). Researchers compiled the IQ map based on data from a study conducted by the Virginia Commonwealth University.
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