A new study has uncovered an interconnected nexus between state IQ and well-being across the 50 U.S. states.
Key findings show that states with higher average IQ tend to have better well-being outcomes across areas like health, income, education and crime.
Some key facts:
- State IQ strongly predicts well-being – they correlated 0.80 in the study. Higher state IQ = higher state well-being.
- State IQ explains differences between states in income inequality, credit scores, COVID-19 vaccination rates, presidential election voting, and more.
- Updating decades-old state IQ estimates with modern academic test data reveals the nexus has been stable over time. State IQ today still predicts outcomes similarly to IQ estimates from 100+ years ago.
Source: J Intell. 2022
United States (U.S.): IQ & Well-Being Rankings
The human brain and its general intelligence are closely tied to real world outcomes.
This is true not just for individuals, but also in aggregate at the level of U.S. states.
The latest research shows a clear nexus between state IQ and state well-being.
Top States in IQ
The top 5 states in IQ were:
- New Hampshire
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Vermont
- North Dakota
These states also ranked highly on well-being factors like income, health, and education outcomes.
They exemplify the bright side of the IQ/well-being nexus.
Bottom States in IQ
The bottom 5 IQ states were:
- Nevada
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- New Mexico
These states consistently ranked near the bottom on well-being metrics as well.
They demonstrate how lower IQ associates with struggling outcomes like poverty, crime, and poor health.
Understanding differences between the smartest and most challenged states provides extra context about the IQ nexus.
It also hints at where policies could potentially make the biggest impact in low-IQ states.
Intelligence & Well-Being Linked in the U.S.
In the study, state IQ correlated an impressive 0.80 with an overall “state well-being” measure.
Well-being combined factors like crime rates, income levels, health metrics, and education statistics.
So on the whole, higher state IQ scores associate with better well-being for the state across important areas.
This nexus makes theoretical sense.
IQ encompasses broad cognitive abilities like reasoning, problem solving, and acquisition of knowledge.
These skills likely aid in creating societal conditions for better income, health, education, lower crime, and beyond.
Combined State IQ and Well-Being Rankings
The study itself did not provide overall combined rankings of states based on both IQ and well-being.
However, it would be possible to create aggregate rankings by taking into account both measures:
One way to combine the IQ and well-being rankings would be to simply average a state’s positions on both lists.
For example:
- Massachusetts ranked #2 for IQ and #1 for Well-Being. Its average ranking is (2 + 1) / 2 = 1.5 → Massachusetts is ranked 1st overall.
- New Mexico ranked #50 for IQ and #43 for Well-Being. Its average is (50 + 43) / 2 = 46.5 → New Mexico ranks 46th overall.
Using this methodology, here are illustrative combined state rankings based on averaging IQ and well-being:
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- Connecticut
- Minnesota
- Utah
- Vermont
- Maryland
- Virginia
- Wyoming
- Washington
- North Dakota
- Maine
- Wisconsin
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- Pennsylvania
- Indiana
- Idaho
- Kansas
- South Dakota
- Oregon
- Montana
- Alaska
- Rhode Island
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- New York
- California
- Texas
- Georgia
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Arizona
- Tennessee
- Arkansas
- South Carolina
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- New Mexico
- Nevada
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- West Virginia
This gives a reasonable aggregate view of how states compare based on both cognitive and well-being metrics.
IQ Predicts Important State Outcomes
Beyond overall well-being, researchers found state IQ specifically predicts a number of interesting state characteristics and outcomes:
- Income Inequality: Higher state IQ associates with lower income inequality. As population cognitive abilities rise, income gaps shrink.
- Credit Scores: State IQ most strongly predicted average credit scores (0.87 correlation). Higher intelligence may aid financial responsibility.
- COVID-19 Vaccination Rates: State IQ moderately correlated with COVID-19 vaccination rates (0.38). Intelligence could play a role in health behavior compliance.
- Voting Patterns: Controlling for demographics, state IQ predicted more votes for Biden in 2020. Intelligence tends to associate with liberalism.
- Religiosity: Higher state IQ correlated with lower religiousness (-0.57). Intelligence may relate to less traditionalism and dogmatism.
- Alcohol Consumption: Surprisingly, higher state IQ associated with more drinking. Possible link between intelligence and risk-taking.
These examples showcase state IQ’s predictive validity for an array of societal factors beyond just overall well-being.
Cognitive ability differences between populations have real impacts.
The Timeless State IQ vs. Well-Being Nexus
State IQ estimates and rankings have been around for decades.
But over time, the specific academic tests used to calculate IQ change.
So researchers in this study aimed to update old state IQ data with current testing metrics.
The results showed today’s state IQ scores still track closely with estimates from over 16 years ago.
And incredibly, they even correlated moderately (0.58) with 100+ year old state IQ calculations from the early 1900s.
This demonstrates the resilience of between-state IQ differences and their nexus with well-being over more than a century of social change.
The “smart states” like Massachusetts still tend to top the rankings today.
Well-Being Factors: Income, Health, Education, Crime
Beyond overall state well-being, researchers looked at how modern state IQ associates with specific well-being sub-factors:
- Income: Higher state IQ correlated with higher income (0.71), lower poverty, higher employment, and higher home values. Cognitive abilities likely boost financial outcomes.
- Health: State IQ moderately predicted better health metrics like lower rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Intelligence may aid healthier decision making.
- Education: Strong correlations (0.74) existed between state IQ and education factors like graduation rates, test performance, and bachelor’s degrees. Smarter states value education more.
- Crime: Higher state IQ strongly associated with lower violent and property crime rates (-0.76). Intelligence reduces criminal tendencies.
So state IQ relates to both overall well-being and specific driving factors like income, health, education and crime.
This further validates the nexus between cognition and societal outcomes.
Comparing Smartest vs. Struggling States
The top and bottom states showcase major differences on both IQ and well-being outcomes, illustrating the nexus from both ends of the spectrum.
Income
Median household income in top IQ states like Massachusetts ($81,215) and New Hampshire ($76,768) more than doubles bottom IQ states like Mississippi ($45,081) and New Mexico ($51,945).
High intelligence associates with prosperity.
Health
Top states like Minnesota have obesity rates around 26% and diabetes around 7%, while bottom states like Alabama and West Virginia have obesity rates of 36% and diabetes over 15%.
High IQ links to better health.
Education
The percentage of adults with a bachelor’s degree ranges from around 36-42% in smart states, but lingers between 13-23% in the bottom IQ states.
Intelligence fosters educational achievement.
Crime
Smarter states like Vermont and Maine enjoy violent crime rates of around 200 incidents per 100,000 people.
Struggling states exceed 450 per 100,000, nearly 2.5 times more. IQ reduces criminal activity.
The differences are stark between the smartest and least smart states.
Higher IQ associates with sizable real-world advantages across income, health, education, and safety. The nexus is clear at both extremes.
Will policy changes in poor states boost IQ & well-being?
Studies on state IQ can help guide public policy in concrete ways.
The state rankings provide a benchmark for identifying laggards in education, health, and other well-being metrics.
Resources can then be directed toward low-IQ states to improve deficiencies.
For example, Mississippi ranked near last in state IQ, health, education and income.
Policy-makers could target raising education levels as a way to potentially boost IQ and in turn help other well-being metrics.
However, researchers caution about applying aggregate results blindly to individuals.
Just because smart states tend to be healthier doesn’t mean every smart individual will be healthy or every healthy individual will be smart.
However, the interconnected links between state IQ and well-being highlight the cognitive engine that may drive societal outcomes.
Smarter states appear better positioned to prosper across measures that matter for quality of life.
Understanding these relationships can lead to more effective policies that tap into the power of human intelligence.
References
- Study: Updated IQ and Well-Being Scores for the 50 U.S. States
- Author: Bryan J. Pesta
