Ithaca is THE Smartest City in America

According to Venture Beat and a new list from Lumosity, Ithaca New York ranks as "THE smartest city in America.  The college town, known for Cornell University and Ithaca College, ranked number 1.  So how did other cities in and near New York State rank?

State College, PA came in at #2 thanks to Penn State and the home of Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana ranked at #3.  Binghamton came in just under Albany at number 81, beating out other New York cities like Rochester and Oneonta.  Syracuse came in at number 124 and Utica Rome at 268.

So what makes these cities so smart?  Good universities.  According to Syracuse.com "cognitive performances of U.S. adults ages 18 to 75 were tallied across nearly 500 geographic areas and given scores for memory, processing speed, flexibility, attention and problem solving."

"Scores for core-based statistical areas were then ranked by location, putting Ithaca at No. 1 with an overall score of 105.76. The college town was found to have the smartest population of adults under 35, as well as the highest individual scores for flexibility, problem solving and processing speed."

Lumosity's 2013 Overall Score Rankings for Core-Based Statistical Areas:

1. Ithaca, N.Y.
2. State College, Penn.
3. Lafayette-West Lafayette, Ind.
4. Iowa City, Iowa
5. Ames, Iowa
6. Ann Arbor, Mich.
7. Bloomington, Ind.
8. Madison, Wisc.
9. Lawrence, Kan.
10. Pullman, Wash.
....
80. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.
81. Binghamton, N.Y.
89. Rochester, N.Y.
91. Oneonta, N.Y.
124. Syracuse, N.Y.
158. Elmira, N.Y.
259. Auburn, N.Y.
268. Utica-Rome, N.Y.
272. Watertown-Fort Drum, N.Y.