State votes ranked by IQ
Here’s a fun chart: States ranked by average IQ and how they voted in 2000.
Update: I’m getting a ton of hits on this entry by people searching for similar data for the 2004 elections. Well, you’re in luck: State Votes by IQ 2004! Though, really, you’d be wise to scroll down and read through the comments on this thread — since the whole thing was basically a hoax to begin with. 
Still, have fun!
| State | Avg. IQ | 2000 | |
| 1 | Connecticut | 113 | Gore |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 111 | Gore |
| 3 | New Jersey | 111 | Gore |
| 4 | New York | 109 | Gore |
| 5 | Rhode Island | 107 | Gore |
| 6 | Hawaii | 106 | Gore |
| 7 | Maryland | 105 | Gore |
| 8 | New Hampshire | 105 | Bush |
| 9 | Illinois | 104 | Gore |
| 10 | Delaware | 103 | Gore |
| 11 | Minnesota | 102 | Gore |
| 12 | Vermont | 102 | Gore |
| 13 | Washington | 102 | Gore |
| 14 | California | 101 | Gore |
| 15 | Pennsylvania | 101 | Gore |
| 16 | Maine | 100 | Gore |
| 17 | Virginia | 100 | Bush |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 100 | Gore |
| 19 | Colorado | 99 | Bush |
| 20 | Iowa | 99 | Gore |
| 21 | Michigan | 99 | Gore |
| 22 | Nevada | 99 | Bush |
| 23 | Ohio | 99 | Bush |
| 24 | Oregon | 99 | Gore |
| 25 | Alaska | 98 | Bush |
| 26 | Florida | 98 | Bush |
| 27 | Missouri | 98 | Bush |
| 28 | Kansas | 96 | Bush |
| 29 | Nebraska | 95 | Bush |
| 30 | Arizona | 94 | Bush |
| 31 | Indiana | 94 | Bush |
| 32 | Tennessee | 94 | Bush |
| 33 | North Carolina | 93 | Bush |
| 34 | West Virginia | 93 | Bush |
| 35 | Arkansas | 92 | Bush |
| 36 | Georgia | 92 | Bush |
| 37 | Kentucky | 92 | Bush |
| 38 | New Mexico | 92 | Gore |
| 39 | North Dakota | 92 | Bush |
| 40 | Texas | 92 | Bush |
| 41 | Alabama | 90 | Bush |
| 42 | Louisiana | 90 | Bush |
| 43 | Montana | 90 | Bush |
| 44 | Oklahoma | 90 | Bush |
| 45 | South Dakota | 90 | Bush |
| 46 | South Carolina | 89 | Bush |
| 47 | Wyoming | 89 | Bush |
| 48 | Idaho | 87 | Bush |
| 49 | Utah | 87 | Bush |
| 50 | Mississippi | 85 | Bush |
Obviously, there are a number of reasons — mathematical, statistical, and scientific — why a chart like this shouldn’t be taken terribly seriously.
That won’t stop me from being amused by it, though.
(via MeFi)
You know, I wonder if we line up what states that tend to dumb down test to protect the students “Self-esteem” and re-norm the test if the IQ number’s shake out differently.
Ouch!
(From the author of the above chart)
“Skin color and intelligence in African Americans. Population and Environment, 2002, 23, 365-375. Presents new evidence showing conclusively for the first time that lighter skinned blacks have higher IQs than darker skinned blacks. This supports the theory that the proportion of white ancestry is a determinant of the intelligence of African Americans.”
Nope no axes to grind here… nope…
I always knew Washington was better than California…
A more telling comparison would have been state-wide average IQ versus dollars spent per pupil. That chart would look pretty much the same alas – see link for a list of state spending discrepancies based on national average. The states with low discrepancies are pretty much the same ones with high average IQ’s. It’s also sad that the Republican-dominated states seem so disinclined to spend dollars for education – which means they really ARE STUPID. That is not as incontrovertible as you make it seem.
sorry about the double post – something weird with typepad’s “post” making me click twice – also – the last line should read “this is MORE incontrovertible than you make it seem.” which is to say, the facts actually DO speak volumes.
Only one state with an average IQ over 100 voted for Bush and No state with and average IQ under 92 voted for Gore.
“Obviously, there are a number of reasons — mathematical, statistical, and scientific — why a chart like this shouldn’t be taken terribly seriously.”
I sure would like to see those reasons, because right now this chart speaks volumes to me.
There’s quite a few, actually, many of which are pointed out in the MetaFilter thread that I picked the graph up from. Just to pick a few quotes from that thread…
In other words, pick two statistics, slap ‘em together in a chart, and instantly they look like they’re related, whether or not they really have anything to do with each other. Admittedly, IQ might actually relate to voting tendencies more than instances of pedophilia, but still.
The end of that second one cracks me up, but all three address the same point: IQ is a pretty questionable rating scale in and of itself, many people don’t put much stock in it at all, and someone’s IQ isn’t necessarily going to have anything to do with how they vote. There’s also the question of who was taking the IQ tests in the first place:
And lastly, as Gordon alluded to in his comment, the source for the IQ data doesn’t seem to be unbiased: There’s more points (discussion, argument) in that MeFi thread, and it looks to be getting more interesting as it grows. End result though, at least for me, is what while it’s a fairly entertaining little graph, it’s also rather meaningless when closely analyzed.I must disagree with the results of this chart.
I live in Connecticut and there is no way the average person here has an IQ of 113.
i understand why it might be coincidental – like peanut butter sales and skirt-length fad trends as representations of the health of the economy (hmm, i’m out of peanut butter, wonder what that means?)
Means you’re gonna have some really dry sandwiches today.
I live in Oklahoma
In case you don’t know already know, the data in the IQs are fake. Interesting to see how the fact that the table matches various prejudices (smart people voted for Bush, people in the south have lower IQs than the north etc) allows us to uncritically accept the data.
As Patrick already stated this was a hoax (that many fell for). If you want the real data, try here.
Survey after survey showed that college graduates, with at least a bachelors degree, voted in favor of Bush while high school dropouts voted in favor for Gore. Gore did win the post-graduate votes though.
Check out this analysis of education, race, obesity, and Walmart-shopping as predictors of votes for Bush.
IQ redux
A little curious about what was causing a traffic spike, I checked out my referrers and search terms. Turns out that the majority of the spike is caused by people searching for information on how states voted combined with the state’s average IQ, which…
Our local talk-show host on Air America read this entire 2004 list of IQ’s and correlation on how they voted……..I was laughing my butt of in my car! =)
You all are stupid, this was a hoax. Just cuz you see something doesn’t mean that it is 100% true or accurate.
The sky is falling! So therefore it must be. Yeah, its funny, maybe if you are a democrat with an axe to grind against Bush.. but other than that… its plain stupid.
It’s true; it is a hoax. Read about it here: http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/stateiq.asp
Nice job of making every other line on the list unreadable. You’re a real “designer”, dude. It isn’t about presenting information in a useful way, it’s about making pretty pretty.