A new map has revealed which US states have the highest and lowest IQs among children.
The data was collected through tests given to fourth- and eighth-graders, and shows that those who live in the Northeast and Midwest are among the smartest in the country.
Massachusetts was found to have the highest IQ with an average of 104.3, followed by New Hampshire. The only state that is not in New England is North Dakota, which is reputed to have a strong education system.
But children living in two southern states, Mississippi and Louisiana, had the lowest IQs.
Your browser does not support iframes.
The map, compiled by Visual Capitalist, was based on IQ tests, standardized tests that provide a measure of a person’s intelligence, which were conducted as part of the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competence and Assessment. National Educational Progress.
IQs are classified into seven categories ranging from extremely low (69 and below) to very high (130 and above).
The global average IQ is 100 and all scores in the US fall within the average classification.
The average IQ of children in Mississippi was 94, and Louisiana came in second at 95.3.
The two states were followed by California (95.5), Hawaii (95.6) and Alabama and New Mexicoboth with 95.7.
While Massachusetts leads the nation with the smartest children, New Hampshire followed with an average score of 104.2, North Dakota I had a 103.8, Vermont with a 103.8 and children in Mountain He had an IQ of 103.4.
Additional findings from a 2022 research article in the intelligence magazinewhich revealed similar IQ rankings, compared IQ with other variables such as crime, income, health, and education.
The research found that a higher state IQ was strongly correlated with higher income, more well-being, and better education and health.
Massachusetts, home to 114 universities, including Harvard, ranks second in income and first in education and well-being.
The state ranks eighth in crime and seventh in health.
By comparison, Louisiana, which ranks 49th in IQ, has similarly low scores on all markers used to rank well-being.
The state ranks 43rd in health, 45th in education, 46th in overall well-being, 48th in income and last in crime.
The study found a strong overall correlation with education spending levels; New Hampshire has high levels of spending on education.
North Dakota, with the third-highest average IQ, has a strong education system, with an excellent average SAT score of 1212 and a high graduation rate of 94 percent.
States that scored low, such as Mississippi, New Mexico, and Arkansas (95.7), tend to have relatively low scores on well-being based on crime, education, and health.
Mississippi ranks 50th in education. New Mexico ranks 43rd in education and well-being, as well as 44th in crime.
And Arkansas ranks 48th in well-being, 49th in crime and 47th in education.
The research also found a slight negative correlation between conservatism and IQ, meaning that IQ tends to be lower in conservative states.
Additionally, the article found that the average state IQ correlates with the number of people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19, with a higher number of vaccines associated with higher IQ.
The study’s author, Bryan J. Pesta, cited several previous studies showing a correlation between conservatism and low state IQs.
Massachusetts, home of Harvard, had one of the highest IQ scores
He wrote: ‘They show that conservatism at the state level is associated with lower IQ. Consistent with this, state IQ is also strongly correlated with state-level income inequality. That is, as IQ scores increase, state income inequality decreases.’
But the study found only a “weak” link between people who voted for Biden in 2020 and higher IQ.
Perhaps surprisingly, there is a strong association with alcohol consumption and higher IQ.
Pesta wrote: ‘State IQ correlates strongly with alcohol consumption. However, surprisingly the relationship is direct. Therefore, there appears to be a positive and constant correlation between IQ and alcohol consumption….
“At present, I have no explanation for why alcohol consumption is associated with better health outcomes at the state level.”
Pesta noted that several previous studies also found an association between higher IQ and higher levels of alcohol consumption.
The research also compared current IQs in the United States with previous estimates from 2016 and 1922, and found that things have remained relatively stable.
Between 2016 and 2022, the scores correlated 0.93, and even between 1922 and 2022 there was a correlation of 0.58.
Pesta said it shows “strong stability over many years.”
