New rankings are out at America’s Most Literate Cities, 2006, and Chicago’s 39th — up from 46th last year. Seattle and Minneapolis remain 1 and 2, and Portland joined the top ten, knocking out Boston. The cellar dweller is Stockton, California, in 70th place.
Cities outranking Chicago include Tulsa, Tampa, Virginia Beach, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Louisville.
The 15 cities that voted most heavily for John Kerry in 2004 have an average rank of #27; the 15 most pro-Bush cities have an average rank of #51. Duh.
(Standings are based on per capita statistics on booksellers, educational attainment, internet resources, library resources, newspaper circulation, and periodical publications for cities of 250,000 people or more — all compiled by John W. Miller of Central Connecticut State University.)