These Are the States That Love Reading the Most

Typing.com, a site that provides free online typing courses and educational tools for people worldwide, has conducted a study to find the U.S. states that love reading the most.

To determine this, researchers calculated each state’s “Reading Interest Score.” This score came from a few factors, including the number of libraries and library visits per capita, the number of bookstores, and the number of Google searches for Kindles.

After results were analyzed, Vermont was found to love reading the most, with a Reading Interest Score of 37.24. The state boasts the most libraries available per 3,819 people and the second-highest number of library visits at 5.89 visits per capita. There are also 4 bookstores for every 100,000 people and higher Google searches for “Kindle.”

Wyoming, Maine, New Hampshire, and Iowa came in at second, third, fourth, and fifth place, respectively in terms of Reading Interest Scores.

Florida came in last, with a Reading Interest Score of 15.79 as a result of it having the lowest library availability and the fewest library visits per capita.

Results and Methodology

Methodology

The following factors were measured and scored on a ten-point scale per state:

1. The number of libraries per state, compared to their current population. 
2. Library visits per capita from the latest published data.
3. Over the past five years, Google search trends per state for “Kindle.”
4. The number of bookstores per capita.

The scores for each state were summed up to arrive at the “Reading Interest Score.” per state.

Sources

1. National Center for Education Statistics Fiscal year 2019
2. Google Trends 
3. County Business Patterns
4. North American Industry Classification System

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.