Kicking off the summer reading season,Amazon.com, Inc. announced its annual list of the Most Well-Read Cities in America. The ranking was determined by compiling sales data of all book, magazine and newspaper sales in both print and Kindle format since June 1, 2011, on a per capita basis in cities with more than 100,000 residents. The Top 20 Most Well-Read Cities are:
- Alexandria, Va.
- Cambridge, Mass
- Berkeley, Calif.
- Ann Arbor, Mich
- Boulder, Colo
- Miami
- Arlington, Va.
- Gainesville, Fla.
- Washington, D.C.
- Salt Lake City
- Pittsburgh
- Knoxville, Tenn.
- Seattle
- Orlando, Fla.
- Columbia, S.C
- Bellevue, Wash.
- Cincinnati
- St. Louis
- Atlanta
- Richmond, Va.
In taking a closer look at the data, Amazon also found that:
- Berkeley, Calif., is a city full of jet-setters – it topped the list by ordering the most Travel books.
- Boulder, Colo., keeps the closest eye on its waistline by topping the list of cities that order the most books in the Health, Fitness & Dieting category.
- Virginia is for lovers – Alexandria, Va., that is, which tops the charts in the Romance book category.
- Cambridge, Mass., grows the most budding entrepreneurs. These locals topped the list for ordering the most books in the Business & Investing category.