America's Smartest People

By Adrien Glover
November 11, 2009
Courtesy of LAX Nightclub
What U.S. city has the most intelligent citizens? According to Travel + Leisure’s 2009 America’s Favorite Cities Survey, the answer is simple: Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Now in its fifth year, the survey—which was open to the online voting public this past summer—covers 30 U.S. cities and was expanded this year to include even more urban areas, such as Cleveland, Providence, and St. Louis. Its “People” category consistently ranks as the most talked about, with voters weighing in on such topics as what U.S. city has the most attractive people (Miami) or the least (Philadelphia). Not surprisingly, the question of which city is home to the country’s smartest people has also sparked discussion.

Some may credit the weather—for keeping people indoors with their noses in books—for the high IQs of Twin Cities residents, but the heady city is full of clues: top-ranked Macalester and seven other colleges; the Utne Reader and beloved independent Common Good Books; Minnesota Public Radio and the smart radio stylings of Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion; the revered Guthrie Theater; and a local culture that prides itself on being in the know—and knowing it all.

“The enormity of artistic and cultural opportunity paired with outdoor activity make the Minnie-apple a standout city,” says Annie W. Mathisen, a 35-year-old attorney who was born in Minneapolis-St. Paul and then returned as an adult because of the area’s high quality of life. “We can boast having inventive minds, from Lucent to Prince. I think Minneapolis fosters an environment where intelligence is valued and constantly fed—no matter what your mind is hungry for,” she says.

But there are other intellectual hotbeds, too. The freethinking bastion of San Francisco—home to countless high-tech companies and Internet entrepreneurs—ranks among the survey’s top 10 smartest cities. Washingtonians are no dummies, either. With a diverse population and an army of cunning politicians, our nation’s capital gets high marks for smarts.

Other cities, however, are the class clowns to the straight A students above. Orlando, for example, may be home to the most magical place on earth, but survey-takers voted their residents’ intelligence a bit less mesmerizing. Dallas, too, ended up toward the bottom of the intelligence list.

Sure, smart people live all over the United States, but maybe some cities really do have more collective brainpower than others. Read on to see the results.
Start Slideshow

1 of 30

# 1 Minneapolis/St.Paul

Visions of America, LLC / Alamy

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 30

# 2 Austin

cameraPT / Alamy

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

3 of 30

# 3 Boston

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

Advertisement

4 of 30

# 4 Portland,Oregon

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

5 of 30

# 5 Seattle

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

6 of 30

# 6 Washington,D.C.

Meghan Lamb

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 30

# 7 Denver

Getty Images

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

8 of 30

# 8 SanFrancisco

iStockphoto

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

9 of 30

# 9 Providence

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 30

# 10 Charleston

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

11 of 30

# 11 Kansas City

Ann Shields

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

12 of 30

# 12 Santa Fe

ImageState / Alamy

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 30

# 13 Houston

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

14 of 30

# 14 Chicago

Courtesy of choosechicago.com

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

15 of 30

# 15 Nashville

Dennis MacDonald / Alamy

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 30

# 16 New York

Kelly Bazely

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

17 of 30

# 17 Cleveland

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

18 of 30

# 18 Honolulu

© KEVIN LAMARQUE/Reuters/Corbis

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

19 of 30

# 19 San Diego

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

20 of 30

# 20 San Antonio

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

21 of 30

# 21 Phoenix/Scottsdale

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

22 of 30

# 22 St. Louis

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

23 of 30

# 23 Atlanta

Digital Vision / Alamy

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

24 of 30

# 24 Philadelphia

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

25 of 30

# 25 New Orleans

Teshira Nobie

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

26 of 30

# 26 Orlando

Dennis MacDonald / Alamy

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

27 of 30

# 27 Dallas/FortWorth

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

28 of 30

# 28 Los Angeles

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

29 of 30

# 29 Miami

iStock

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

30 of 30

# 30 Las Vegas

Courtesy of LAX Nightclub

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

See America’s Most and Least Attractive People

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Up Next

Advertisement
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.travelandleisure.com