Amazon.com Releases Its 3rd Annual Most Well-Read Cities List

It’s always interesting to review this list but make sure to be clear on the methodology.

The ranking was determined by compiling sales data of all book, magazine and newspaper sales in both print and Kindle format since June 1, 2012, on a per capita basis in cities with more than 100,000 residents.

Amazon.com’s Top 20 Most Well-Read Cities and Other Findings

1. Alexandria, Va.
2. Knoxville, Tenn.
3. Miami, Fla.
4. Cambridge, Mass.
5. Orlando, Fla.
6. Ann Arbor, Mich.
7. Berkeley, Calif.
8. Cincinnati, Ohio
9. Columbia, S.C.
10. Pittsburgh, Penn.
11. St. Louis, Mo.
12. Salt Lake City, Utah
13. Seattle, Wash.
14. Vancouver, Wash.
15. Gainesville, Fla.
16. Atlanta, Ga.
17. Dayton, Ohio
18. Richmond, Va.
19. Clearwater, Fla.
20. Tallahassee, Fla.

In taking a closer look at the data, Amazon also found that:
Welcome to the club: Vancouver, Wash., Dayton, Ohio, Clearwater, Fla. and Tallahassee, Fla. are all new on the list this year.
Knoxville, Tenn. made the biggest gain this year, jumping from the #12 spot in 2012 to #2 this year. Knoxville residents also purchased the most books in the Romance category—top titles include Fifty Shades of Grey and Married by Mistake.
Blockbuster novel Gone Girl was the best-selling book overall in Alexandria, Va., followed by the three titles in the Fifty Shades trilogy.
Cambridge, Mass. continues to grow the most budding entrepreneurs. This locale topped the list for ordering the most books in the Business & Investing category, as well as overall nonfiction, with the top titles purchased being Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most and StrengthsFinder 2.0.
“The results of our annual Most Well-Read Cities list is proof that people across the country are reading, and also that we’re still seeing the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey,” said Sara Nelson, Editorial Director of Books and Kindle. “It’s fun for us to see facts like the citizens of Cambridge are buying the most books in the business category or that one of our favorite novels of 2012, Gone Girl, is the best-selling book in the Most Well-Read City, Alexandria.”

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Filed under: Data Files, News