The Daily Beast (tip o’ the pixel to AlterNet) has released its second-annual list of the nation’s smartest and dumbest cities.

From the AlterNet piece:

What makes a city “smart” or “dumb,” per this list? The education level of the city’s citizens, for one, and also its “intellectual environment,” as measured by nonfiction book sales and the prevalence of colleges and libraries.

Draw your own conclusions about what the list means in terms of a city’s desirability. (At #16, New York City was robbed, man!)

Regardless, Boston is . . . drumroll, please . . . the brainiest!

Smartest

1. Boston, MA
2. Hartford-New Haven, CT
3. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA
4. Raleigh-Durham, NC
5. Denver, CO
6. Seattle-Tacoma, WA
7. Austin, TX
8. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
9. Washington, DC
10. Rochester, NY

On the flipside:

Dumbest

1. Las Vegas, NV
2. San Antonio, TX
3. Fresno, CA
4. Houston, TX
5. Memphis, TN
6. Orlando, FL
7. Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL
8. Louisville, KY
9. Miami, FL
10. Greensboro, NC

New tourism slogan: What happens in Vegas . . . is stupid everywhere else.

Forewarned is forearmed.