New England Has the Smartest People in the Country With 4 States in the Top 10

Editor's note: This article was written by a Townsquare Media Northern New England contributor and may contain the individual's views, opinions or personal experiences.

We're Ivy League central so it's most definitely a given, along with the majority of residents being forward-thinking, open-minded, and embracing science, education, and equality.

According to Penn Stakes, Massachusetts and Connecticut rank #1 and #2.  Much of the metrics comes from IQ's, testing scores, and percentage of residents with advanced degrees, just to name a few.

Harvard University and MIT must be rubbing off on Massachusetts because it leads the way by far in its #1 slot with an index of nearly 94 out of 100.  That said, it's no surprise that the home state of Yale University comes in at #2 around 74 out of 100.

Wow, Massachusetts definitely ran away with this one, even though New Hampshire actually holds the #1 spot of highest IQ in the country.

That said, New Hampshire did make this #10 list of the smartest states in the country, coming in at #6 just behind Vermont, which took the #5 spot.

According to World Population Review, these top states also happen to have incomes to match overall, and that has an enormous impact on educational data.  With the median income in the country around $64,000, the majority of the states, including all in New England, are above the national average. Massachusetts comes in at around $86,000, New Hampshire at $81,000, Connecticut at $73,000, and Vermont at $70,000.

Here's the list of the top 15, where you will see Maine making #12. I've also posted the bottom 15 states.

I do want to note that there are so many of these studies that come out each year, sometimes several times annually, using different criteria. That said, we usually do see the same 20 states jockeying positions.