Is Colorado the Smartest State in the USA?

We love competition here in Colorado. Above that, we only love one thing more: being number one! Doesn't matter what we're talking about. Ask the Rockies.

Of course, we are not unique in that infatuation with being the best. Every state in the Union wants to be the best state in the Union! But, like the Highlander, there can be only one...

Since that applies to everything, it must, inevitably, apply to the concept of intelligence. Whether you're a big reader or not, nobody likes to look stupid, so how do we here in Colorado stack up when it comes to brainpower?

Time to get competitive.

Coloradans are pretty smart, but are we the smartest in the country? Unfortunately, the bad news is that the answer to that question is no. The good news, however, according to World Population Review, is that we're still competitive in this particular league!

Colorado currently ranks as the 10th smartest state in the country. Considering there's 50 of us, plus D.C. and the territories if you want to be all-inclusive, being number ten is not a bad spot to be this late in the season!

Who's Number One?

Since they based this study on metrics like IQ Scores and percetages of college graduates, Massachusetts claims the top spot. And, with stats like holding the highest percentage of Bachelor's degree holders (42.1%), as well as the highest number of adults with graduate or professional degrees (32.4%), it's not hard to see how they got there.

Had we been going solely by IQ scores, however, we might have ourselves a different story, as New Hampshire would have narrowly edged out the Bay State with an average of 103.2 to 103.1. Ouch. Missed it by that much.

Money? Money.

Now, the other thing to note with this study is the effect that icome has on academic acheivement. Obviously, higher incomes can lead to higher levels of people enrolling in and graduating from college, which in turn leads to higher-paying jobs, etc. Since the east coast of the United States is home to some of the highest incomes in the nation, it's no wonder that many of the smartest states would be among them, like Vermont and Connecticut.

Minnesota, on the other hand, bucks this trend of east coast dominance, and they do it with smarts! Minnesota is consistently number one when it comes to SAT scores, and if you combine that with their third place ranking in IQ scores, the math adds up to Minnesota: the second smartest state in the country!

We can get 'em next year!

Colorado lands at number 10 on the list with a median income of $73,034, and an average IQ of 101.1. These aren't bad numbers, and there's no shame in our game. Yeah, there's room for improvement, but if there's one thing we love more than being the best here in Colorado, it's a comeback story.

Oh what a comeback story ours will be!

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