AVERAGE IQ SCORE BY STATE

The Smartest State Award

A company called Morgan Quitno represented the average IQ score of particular states when they developed the Smartest State Award. States were ranked based on these 21 educational factors:

1. Public Elementary and Secondary School Revenue per $1,000 personal Income

2. Percent of Public Elementary and Secondary School Current Expenditures used for Instruction

3. Percent of Population Graduated from High School

4. Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate for Public High Schools

5. Percent of Public School 4th Graders Proficient or Better in Reading

6. Percent of Public School 8th Graders Proficient or Better in Reading

7. Percent of Public School 4th Graders Proficient or Better in Writing

8. Percent of Public School 8th Graders Proficient or Better in Writing

9. Percent of Public School 4th Graders Proficient or Better in Math

10. Percent of Public School 8th Graders Proficient or Better in Math

11. Average Teacher Salary as a Percent of Average Annual Pay of All Workers

12. Average Daily Attendance as a Percent of Fall Enrollment in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools

13. Percent of School-Age Population in Public Schools

14. High School Drop Out Rate

15. Special Education Pupil-Teacher Ratio

16. Percent of Public Elementary and Secondary School Staff Who are School District Administrators

17. Average Class Size in Public Elementary Schools

18. Average Class Size in Public Secondary Schools

19. Median Pupil-Teacher Ratio in Public Primary Schools

20. Median Pupil-Teacher Ratio in Public Middle Schools

21. Median Pupil-Teacher Ratio in Public High Schools

It's worth noting that Arizona (finishing last on the Smart States list, and ranked 43rd in average IQ score by state) is the only state that enforces an English-only law in its public schools.

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Next, compare this list to the one below it, called McDaniel's Estimated Average IQ Score (2004). Micheal McDaniel is a widely published professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University school of business. There seems to be some correlation between the smart-states list and the average-IQ-score-by-state list. Some states even rank in the same position on both lists.

But keep in mind that this data should not be taken too seriously. IQ testing has been widely criticized as being too generalized, and NOT a valid assessment of anything too important. A stunning example of this is the case of Richard Feynman, one of the greatest physicists of all time, whose genius was on the same level as Albert Einstein. Feynman scored 125 (a bit above average, but nothing spectacular) on an IQ test he took during childhood.

2006 Educational State Rankings

1. VERMONT

2. MASSACHUSETTS

3. CONNECTICUT

4. NEW JERSEY

5. MAINE

6. VIRGINIA

7. MONTANA

8. WISCONSIN

9. IOWA

10. PENNSYLVANIA

11. NEBRASKA

12. NEW HAMPSHIRE

13. MINNESOTA

14. RHODE ISLAND

15. KANSAS

16. NEW YORK

17. SOUTH DAKOTA

18. MARYLAND

19. WYOMING

20. IDAHO

21. NORTH DAKOTA

22. MISSOURI

23. NORTH CAROLINA

24. INDIANA

25. TEXAS

26. SOUTH CAROLINA

27. COLORADO

28. DELAWARE

29. FLORIDA

30. TENNESSEE

31. KENTUCKY

32. ARKANSAS

33. WASHINGTON

34. OHIO

35. ILLINOIS

36. OKLAHOMA

37. WEST VIRGINIA

38. UTAH

39. MICHIGAN

40. OREGON

41. GEORGIA

42. HAWAII

43. NEW MEXICO

44. LOUISIANA

45. ALABAMA

46. ALASKA

47. CALIFORNIA

48. MISSISSIPPI

49. NEVADA

50. ARIZONA

McDaniel's Estimated Average IQ Score by State

2. NEW HAMPSHIRE..........................................104.2

3. NORTH DAKOTA............................................103.8

4. VERMONT....................................................103.8

5. MINNESOTA.................................................103.7

6. MONTANA....................................................103.4

7. MAINE.........................................................103.4

8. IOWA..........................................................103.2

9. CONNECTICUT...............................................103.1

10. WISCONSIN.................................................102.9

11. KANSAS......................................................102.8

12. SOUTH DAKOTA............................................102.8

13. NEW JERSEY................................................102.8

14. WYOMING....................................................102.4

15. NEBRASKA....................................................102.3

16. WASHINGTON................................................101.9

17. VIRGINIA......................................................101.9

18. OHIO...........................................................101.8

19. INDIANA.......................................................101.7

20. COLORADO....................................................101.6

21. PENNSYLVANIA..............................................101.5

22. IDAHO..........................................................101.4

23. OREGON.......................................................101.2

24. UTAH...........................................................101.1

25. MISSOURI......................................................101.0

26. NEW YORK.....................................................100.7

27. MICHIGAN......................................................100.5

28. DELAWARE.....................................................100.4

29. NORTH CAROLINA.............................................100.2

30. TEXAS...........................................................100.0

31. ILLINOIS..........................................................99.9

32. MARYLAND.......................................................99.7

33. RHODE ISLAND..................................................99.5

34. KENTUCKY........................................................99.4

35. OKLAHOMA.......................................................99.3

36. ALASKA............................................................99.0

37. WEST VIRGINIA..................................................98.7

38. SOUTH CAROLINA...............................................98.4

39. FLORIDA...........................................................98.4

40. GEORGIA...........................................................98.0

41. TENNESSEE.......................................................97.7

42. ARKANSAS.........................................................97.5

43. ARIZONA...........................................................97.4

44. NEVADA............................................................96.5

45. ALABAMA...........................................................95.7

46. NEW MEXICO......................................................95.7

47. HAWAII..............................................................95.6

48. CALIFORNIA........................................................95.5

49. LOUISIANA..........................................................95.3

50. MISSISSIPPI........................................................94.2

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