Massachusetts named smartest state in the nation

[SecularMotion]

Source: MassLive

SPRINGFIELD - Residents of Massachusetts, hold your stereotypically elitist, well-educated head high. The Commonwealth has been named the smartest state in the nation.

In the list "The 10 Smartest States in America," the website The Street compared education levels, income and standardized testing scores.

The report considered the following data:

Percent of population with bachelor's degrees: 38.2 percent
2013 median household income: $65,339
2013 Average SAT score: 1553

While the state average for SAT scores is low, Massachusetts has some of the best high schools in the nation. 75 Massachusetts high schools were declared so by the U.S. News & World Report 2014 rankings.

Read more: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/05/massachusetts_named_smartest_s.html#incart_river_default

[onehandle]

1. Massachusetts Has Lowest Gun Death Rate in Nation. Strong Gun Laws and Low Gun Ownership Rates.

Smart indeed.

http://www.vpc.org/press/1204death.htm

[cosmicone]

8. +1,000,000

I guess the dumber a person is, the more he/she wants weapons of death as a compensatory mechanism.

[Ineeda]

18. Most liberal state too

iirc, or right up there in the top three. Coincidence? I don't think so.

[valerief]

35. Woo hoo! nt

[MADem]

47. They don't tax military, government and educator pensions.

You can't swing a book bag in the city without hitting a college. Plenty in the suburbs as well.

[Fred Drum]

58. In Other News... top ten places in Massachusetts.

1. Northampton

boston is probably in the list

[Bryce Butler]

2. The Top 10:

1 - Massachusetts
2 - Colorado
3 - Maryland
4 - Connecticut
5 - New Jersey
6 - Virginia
7 - Vermont
8 - New York
9 - New Hampshire
10 - Minnesota

[JDPriestly]

24. And the bottom ten:

From smartest to . . . well, I don't want to insult anyone:

Tennessee
Oklahoma
Indiana
Alabama
Nevada
Louisiana
Kentucky
Mississippi
Arkansas (Woops! No glasses)
W. Virginia

http://www.thestreet.com/story/12712489/10/the-10-dumbest-states-in-america.html

Mostly Southern. Mostly conservative. I lived in one of the southern states on that list when I was in high school, and I have said that the people in the South tend to be, well, I will let you fill in the word you would use. I was chastised and roundly criticized for expressing my opinion. I feel vindicated. (There are smart people in the South too, but in general . . . .)

We should have let the South secede. We might be better off without it.

Shame on Indiana, Nevada and W. Virginia. They need to improve their schools.

[fujiyama]

54. ...and all but one of those states went red the last two elections.

That too, barely and only once (Indiana in '08). Oops, missed Nevada as well...Blue both times.

Still, it seems pretty clear that more educated people tend to be more liberal in their political beliefs. There's no surprise there.

[JDPriestly]

55. Yes. I hardly dared say it but you say it well.

[fujiyama]

53. Every one of those states went blue the last two elections...

Nuff' said.

[FailureToCommunicate]

3. Yeah, we're wicked pissar smaart. It's freakin easy to tell, am I right?

Oh well, I guess we should take whatever praise we're offered...

[Marrah_G]

11. Sorry you are going to have to leave.

You spelled Smaht wrong

[FailureToCommunicate]

33. Oh dang. Caught me. You'*e co**ect of cou*se!

(I'm orginally from Missoura, just been living here, trying to blend in...)

[Marrah_G]

34. lmao :)

Welcome, I do hope you love it here.

[FailureToCommunicate]

37. Thanks! Even after more 30 years here, we're still part of the 'new folks' in our town.

And, yes, we do love it here. (One of my sons will be transfering to your town for school this Fall)

[Marrah_G]

41. Some great schools here, I hope he loves it

Edit: Oops, I should probably change my profile since I recently moved to Providence.

SSU is great though, my son went there and the city is a fabulous place to live. Walkable, liberal and alot of fun.

[valerief]

36. As a youngster growing up in Boston, I never knew which way to pronounce

'half' or 'bath' or 'can't' or 'four', because they were pronounced different ways.

hahf, haff, bahth, bath, cahn't, can't, keeyant, fore, foewah.

[liberal N proud]

4. The 99% of Massachusetts must be genius because with Mitt Romney living there

sucking the whole level down.

[MADem]

48. He doesn't live here, he never really lived here.

He had a house in Belmont (since sold, he purchased one of those garden homes in a gated community to keep a foot in, but he doesn't live there). While Governor of MA he spent most of his time at his lake mansion in New Hampshire. Looking for a MA State Cop? Go up to Mitt's house in NH! They were guarding the basstid.

Now he's got that house in La Jolla CA. He probably has a few others as well, but his footprint here is just sufficient to spend a few days if needs must.

[yuiyoshida]

5. I wonder what

California ranked? Is there a 50 state, break down?

[cosmicone]

10. California would rank higher

if we gave central valley to Nevada and Arizona hahaha.

[yuiyoshida]

16. Yeh, there is that...

lol

[hughee99]

6. Average score 1553? Holy shit.

I thought I did well scoring over 1400, but that was 20 years ago. Did they change the scoring?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

12. Ditto. And after reading your comment

(and posting mine) I did some googling. Apparently they've added an 800 point 'writing' section. So now it's out of 2400 points now, not 1600, which makes me feel better about my score.

[JDPriestly]

19. I have wondered about that. Thanks for clarifying it.

[Fred Drum]

62. sorta like GRE

three 200-800 scaling, i think

verbal reasoning

analytical reasoning

quantitative analysis

they change the topics

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

7. 1533 is LOW?

I thought I'd done damn well to get a 1500 out of 1600 on the SAT back when I took it.

I also don't think I'd count income as a measure of intellect.

[deurbano]

14. That must include the essay section, which would make 2400 a perfect score.

I think it's been dropped for future tests.

[hughee99]

17. Who is more intelligent, Stephen Hawking or Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez?

I think you're right about it not being a good measure.

[Marrah_G]

9. Wooooooooooo we are wicked smaht!

[Populist_Prole]

13. No way! Red states with big-name college sports teams are the smartest

Really though, even factoring in their deliberate anti-intellectualism, right wingers will scoff at such a ranking. They do so out of tribal / team player mentality; and I see/hear this so often: Anybody who is "one of them" or agrees with them is "smart". Anybody who disagrees with them is "dumb". They offer no demonstrable proof: It's the way they feel and that's that.

[4Q2u2]

15. Like we needed this study

All we ever have to say till the end of time is "THE ONLY STATE THAT DID NOT VOTE FOR NIXON."

That is what they call street cred, BTW the people did not buy Shrubs BS either.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Mann
http://www.mass.gov/portal/government-taxes/laws/interactive-state-house/inside-the-state-house/horace-mann.html

[Arkana]

20. Damn straight.

Now let me tell you about the SAWX.

[elleng]

21. What is 'smart?'

very good at learning or thinking about things

: showing intelligence or good judgment

: behaving or talking in a rude or impolite way : showing a lack of respect for someone

[hughee99]

22. In Massachusetts, people must be wicked smaht. n/t

[msanthrope]

23. Nobody tell Manny....he'll be impossible!

[Blue_Adept]

25. I think you meant to say wicked impossible..

[antigop]

26. psst....don't tell anyone.....you need to look at HOW US News and World Report does their ranking

nt

[DeSwiss]

27. I'm so old I can remember when this kind of news really meant something.....

- But when contrasted against today.... a time when vouchers and test scores have dismissed the need for the actual attainment of knowledge... and since it was no longer physically possible anyways....

Well, congratulations Massachusetts. I guess it's a good thing for the rest of the states we grade on a curve.

K&R

[HomerRamone]

28. Proud to be a native MassHole! nt

[democrank]

29. Pleased to see New England is well represented.

Go Red Sox!

[MBS]

30. no kidding : ) n/t

[BluegrassDem]

32. They are smart....but loud, angry, obnoxious, rude, and generally not pleasant people

Last edited Tue May 27, 2014, 04:54 PM - Edit history (1)

Would never live in Boston no matter how much money I made. They are some rudest people I've ever met. On par with New York and New Jersey.

[Justice]

38. WOW, way to malign an entire state of people. Not so smart. :)

[kentauros]

56. Except that "way to malign an entire state of people" is S.O.P. on DU

especially with regards to those of us in the South, or "worse," Texas

[armed_and_liberal]

39. You get what you project..

I am a native southerner (NC & TN) I have lived in New York and New England for 34 years and I found most everyone to be just as friendly and generous as any place else. My kid went to college in Boston, The only complaint I had with Boston was the traffic, but once you learn to either drive fast or get the hell out of the way everything was cool.

BTW; Were you by chance wearing a Yankees hat or shirt while in Boston?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

45. You met all 6,692 million Massachusetts residents and came away with that conclusion?

Some Massachusetts residents can be loud, angry, obnoxious, rude, and generally not pleasant people, but you can find that anywhere.


I hope that you try again some day and have a better outlook.

[MADem]

49. Yes...John Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Elizabeth Warren, John Kerry...

all a bunch of loud, angry, obnoxious, rude, and generally not pleasant people.

You sure are something....but I won't be "rude" and say what I'm really thinking.

[Beacool]

65. You just insulted 3 states in one fell swoop.

You trying to start a fight?



Of course, in Joisey we are proud of our lack of finesse. Besides, we exude sex appeal.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/talk_joisey_to_me_nj_accent_among_5_sexiest_in_north_america.html

[Springslips]

40. Well duh...

Mass has Harvard and MIT in their state.

[BadtotheboneBob]

42. You can't tell that from the car drivers in Boston...

... they're brutal.

[MannyGoldstein]

46. Are you sitting down?

Lowest fatality rate in the country:

http://www.census.gov/statab/ranks/rank39.html

We only do fendah-bendahs.

[Fred Drum]

61. the old traffic circle outside Logan

fly into boston take your first right

[former9thward]

43. And guess where the author lives ....

Yes, that's right, Massachusetts! She is a intern with the Martha's Vineyard Times and a UMass-Amherst graduate. What a coincidence!

[Fred Drum]

63. amherst is good ... some say hampshire

but really, is there a difference

oh, wait, we're talking state schools

[Demeter]

44. They have a boatload of degrees, sure

But that doesn't always correlate with intelligence, and given there are at least 7 identified kinds of intelligence, plus the whole creativity aspect, all that proves is that the citizens of Massachusetts have a boatload of degrees.

[kentauros]

57. I'm interested in these "7 identified kinds of intelligence"

Not something I knew before now, so if you have a link, I'll read it

It makes sense, though I do wish we'd stop pressing schools to focus on science and math, science and math, science and math! What about the arts? Can't I also be considered genius-level with a lowly BA?

[Demeter]

60. here you go--I guess he raised it to nine, since I last heard

http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences

http://skyview.vansd.org/lschmidt/Projects/The%20Nine%20Types%20of%20Intelligence.htm

http://thesecondprinciple.com/optimal-learning/multiple-intelligence-indicators/

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CF8QFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.niu.edu%2Ffacdev%2Fresources%2Fguide%2Flearning%2Fhoward_gardner_theory_multiple_intelligences.pdf&ei=XwmHU9yrF8mZyATQxYHwCA&usg=AFQjCNGxlBcJgeejwKKeh5WaBTr22StDxg&bvm=bv.68114441,d.aWw

that last is a pdf

[surrealAmerican]

50. income?

Why are they including income in a measure of intelligence?
It's more tied to the cost of living than to the people's intelligence.
What would the results look like without income factored in?

[shenmue]

51. Well, the Pixies went to school there

Fine by me.

[locks]

52. Hope you noticed

which state came in second smartest

[Fred Drum]

59. smartest ... like how ???

...


As Massachusetts is home to 113 colleges and universities, including some of the most prestigious schools in the world, the percentage of the population who further their education is unsurprising.


...

some still doubt education is the answer

[Beacool]

64. New Jersey is in 5th place.

Although I question how smart we really are. Look who we elected as governor........

[RebelOne]

66. Well, at least my state of Georgia

was not listed in the dumbest states list. Nor was Florida where I grew up or my birth state of Pennsylvania.