The America's Most Literate Cities study, conducted out of Central Connecticut State University, focused on six key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources.
Washington D.C. was ranked the nation's most literate city, while Stockton, Calif., came in at number 75.
Chicago's place at 28 is its best showing in the study since 2005. The city has ranked anywhere from 30 to as low as 46 in 2005.
Click here for a full list of rankings.