Posted on 06/25/2013 5:29:24 PM PDT by FlJoePa
The study released today (PDF) used data from more than 3 million people in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 75 who had played several Lumosity brain-training games. These games measured performance across five cognitive areas: memory, processing speed, flexibility, attention, and problem solving. Then the scores were ranked by location.
Many of the cities and towns on the list, not surprisingly, are prominent “college towns.” Ithaca, N.Y., the top of the list, is home to both Cornell University and Ithaca College. State College, Penn. number two, is home to Penn State. Lafeyette, Ind., number three, is home to Purdue University.
“One of the most interesting findings from this analysis is that most of the top metro areas contain major research universities, suggesting that education is an important predictor of cognitive performance,” Lumosity data scientist Daniel Sternberg said in a statement. “Neuroscience research has found that those who are engaged in learning and cognitively stimulating activities throughout the lifetime build up a ‘cognitive reserve’ that helps maintain and improve cognitive performance.”
Check out the top 100 list of “America’s smartest cities” below to see if your town made the cut.
1. Ithaca, NY
2. State College, PA
3. Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN
4. Iowa City, IA
5. Ames, IA
6. Ann Arbor, MI
7. Bloomington, IN
8. Madison, WI
9. Lawrence, KS
10. Pullman, WA
11. College Station-Bryan, TX
12. Appleton, WI
13. Champaign-Urbana, IL
14. Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA
15. Charlottesville, VA
16. Boulder, CO
17. Provo-Orem, UT
18. Harrisonburg, VA
19. Rolla, MO
20. Houghton, MI
21. Muncie, IN
22. Corvallis, OR
23. Boone, NC
24. Logan, UT-ID
25. Stillwater, OK
26. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
27. Claremont-Lebanon, NH-VT
28. Lebanon, PA
29. Moscow, ID
30. Cedar Rapids, IA
31. Lincoln, NE
32. Bloomsburg-Berwick, PA
33. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
34. Starkville, MS
35. Athens, OH
36. La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN
37. Brainerd, MN
38. Burlington-South Burlington, VT
39. Fargo, ND-MN
40. Stevens Point, WI
41. Columbia, MO
42. St. Cloud, MN
43. Rochester, MN
44. Auburn-Opelika, AL
45. Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA
46. Oil City, PA
47. Fort Collins, CO
48. Sheboygan, WI
49. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
50. Keene, NH
51. Oshkosh-Neenah, WI
52. Burlington, NC
53. Pittsburgh, PA
54. Fond du Lac, WI
55. Concord, NH
56. Morgantown, WV
57. Bellingham, WA
58. Mount Pleasant, MI
59. Ottawa-Peru, IL
60. Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN
61. Laramie, WY
62. Barnstable Town, MA
63. Lancaster, PA
64. Reading, PA
65. Winchester, VA-WV
66. Bozeman, MT
67. Bloomington, IL
68 Gainesville, FL
69. Duluth, MN-WI
70. Michigan City-La Porte, IN
71. South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI
72. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
73. Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA
74. Oxford, MS
75. Altoona, PA
76. Wooster, OH
77. Bismarck, ND
78. Grand Forks, ND-MN
79. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
80. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
81. Binghamton, NY
82. Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA
83. Wisconsin Rapids-Marshfield, WI
84. Ogdensburg-Massena, NY
85. Kansas City, MO-KS
86. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, CA
87. Torrington, CT
88. Trenton, NJ
89. Rochester, NY
90. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
91. Oneonta, NY
92. Eau Claire, WI
93. Warsaw, IN
94. Norwich-New London, CT
95. Eugene, OR
96. Topeka, KS
97. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
98. Mankato-North Mankato, MN
99. Helena, MT
100. Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
“2. State College, PA”
The birth place of “climate change”
My town is 29. I’m so ashamed.
Ask yourself: why is it that Boston, home of Harvard, MIT, BU, BC, and Northeastern, is not listed in the top 100 cities?
New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington DC did not even make the list! ROFLMAO
Too many Kennedys.
But it does prove that the good Norwegians of Grand Forks are smarter than the eggheads of New Haven (which didn’t even make the list)....
wait a minute - shouldn’t WASHINGTON DC top this list? Isn’t that where the smartest people are?
I when back and read the article when I didn’t find place like Los Alamos NM on the list. Fargo is the that stuned me. It is based on people who had played several Lumosity brain-training games.
I have played these games mainly while traveling. They make you think.
If you look Ogdensberg and Messina are small towns on the river, yet 10 like inland from each is Canton and Potsdam, they are both college towns.
Ogdensberg-Messina has in that orbit, Potsdam, NY. Home of Clarkson U., and SUNY Potsdam. Ten miles down the road is Canton, NY. Home of St. Lawrence U. and SUNY Canton
Ithaca, has Cornell an Ithaca, as well as Wells College Aurora, a few miles away and Thomkins-Cortland Community College in Dryden.
Looks like all of them are college towns
Torrington, CT? Really? “Smart” must mean dilapidated homes and vacant factories.
State College, PA! Go Penn State!!!!!!
Where’s DC.....and Chicago?
WAR EAGLE!
And of course.
I see -- so their motives for those little "games" were something other than stated. They even had a cute girl in internet ads.
Things are never as they seem on the internet.
Dollars to donuts, the majority of the top 100 have a very liberal liberal-arts college nearby!
And look which place is second.
Not to mention the home (until recently) of a guy named Sandusky.
Is the Los Alamos/White Rock metropolitan area not considered a ‘city?’
1. Ithaca, NY
80. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
81. Binghamton, NY
84. Ogdensburg-Massena, NY
89. Rochester, NY
91. Oneonta, NY
Most, if not all, of those cities helped elect O for the 2nd time. I guess I'm proud to be among the dumb. :-)
I don’t think that has anything to do with it. They pass it off as trending towards “research based” institutions/cities/towns, which the top handful certainly ARE.
I think what is missing is warmer weather towns/cities/schools, because they are outside doing stuff instead of playing games on their computers. They’re also in big cities and have a LOT of dumb people to drag down their scores (think Miami, LA, Dallas, etc.)
It must be a per capita thing, where the towns are just the right size, and the climate is just the right degree of crappiness to enable them to somehow fit into this stupid study.
Bloomsburg, PA? Srsly? Sorry. They lost me at that one.
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