"One of the great things about books is sometime there are some fantastic pictures."

-George W. Bush

The Illiterate Digest has always saltued Illiteracy and now has compiled a list of the most illiterate cities in the United States. We're doing much better than our European brethren, since 23 million American adults are functionally illiterate and 13% of all American 17-years-olds are functionally illiterate. To those people we dedicated the...

Illiterate Digest Index

1. Miami FL: 63%

2. East LA CA: 57%

3. East St. Louis IL: 56%

4. Compton CA: 55%

5. Newark NJ: 52%

6. Brownsville TX: 50%

7. Union City NJ: 50%

8. San Fernando CA: 49%

9. Camden NJ: 49%

10. Detroit MI: 47%

11. Laredo TX: 47%

12. East Orange NJ: 46%
13. Gary IN: 46%

14. East Palo Alto CA: 45%
15. Orange NJ: 45%
16. Passaic City NJ: 45%
17. Paterson NJ: 45%

18. Augusta GA: 43%

19. Elizabeth NJ: 42%
20. Atlantic City NJ: 42%

21. Miami Beach FL: 41%
22. Hartford CT: 41%
23. East Chicago IN: 41%

24. South Miami Heights FL: 40%

Source: The National Institute for Literacy
The NALS found a total of 21-23 percent - or 40-44 million - of the 191 million American adults (defined as age 16 or older) at Level 1, the lowest literacy level. Although many Level 1 adults could perform many tasks involving simple texts and documents, all adults scoring at Level 1