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Is Virginia really the best-read state in the nation?

The state also had more cities on Amazon's list of the top 20 most well-read areas than any other.

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Albert Herring
The city of Alexandria, Va. took the top spot in Amazon's 2012 list of the most well-read cities in America.
  • By Molly Driscoll

Congratulations, Virginia.

Bookselling giant Amazon released its yearly rankings of which cities are the most well-read on Tuesday and the city of Alexandria, Va. took the top spot, with Cambridge, Mass. coming in at number two and Berkeley, Calif. following behind at number three.

According to Amazon’s press release, the company determines which cities have the most bibliophiles by looking at the number of magazines, newspapers and books sold in areas with over 100,000 residents since June 1 of last year. The company includes both paper and Kindle versions of the materials in the number-crunching.

Amazon releases the top 20 cities that made the cut as well as trends that caught the company’s eye.

Other areas that made the top 20 were Ann Arbor, Mich. at number four, Washington, D.C. with its spot at number nine, Pittsburgh, Pa. at number 11, and Orlando, Fla., which came in the fourteenth spot. The state which appeared the most times on the list was also Virginia, with Arlington occupying the seventh spot and Richmond squeaking in at number 20.

The company also found that Alexandria bought more romance novels than any other city and Boulder, Colo., which came in at number five, ordered the most health-related books, among other trends.

Molly Driscoll is a Monitor contributor.

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