By Erika Giovanetti
July 1, 2013. A study conducted through Lumosity.com, a website in which users can play games to “brain train,” found that Boone is the 23rd smartest city in the U.S. based on factors such as Lumosity’s “brain areas:” speed, attention, flexibility, memory and problem solving.
Boone ranks impressively in not just overall knowledge, but in many subcategories as well. Out of almost 500 cities, Boone ranks third in flexibility, 18th in problem solving, 26th in speed and 29th in under 35 years of age. However, Boone isn’t in the top 50 for the categories 33-55, 55+, memory and attention.
Analysts often use socioeconomic variables such as income and education levels to rank the intelligence of cities, but Lumosity ranks our country’s smartest cities based on how users perform on the cognitive training games on www.lumosity.com. Daniel A. Sternberg, Ph.D. and data scientist for Lumosity, conducted the study.
The study measured the performance of 3,385,648 people nationwide and produced rankings based on age, subject area and geographic location. A minimum sample size of 500 users is required for a city to qualify for ranking, meaning that over 500 participants in Boone contributed to the study.
Lumosity acknowledges that performance on the exercises used to rank the cities is known to decline with age. Age is an important factor in Boone because, according to the 2010 demographic profile conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age here is 21.5. The study rectifies this factor by introducing the rankings by age, which control the affect of age on the results.
Below is a complete list of the top 100 smartest cities in the U.S. To see the complete study, click here.
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
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