Wow. I'm surprised the our literacy rate isn't lower.

How is literacy defined here? If it’s English proficiency, it might explain “illiteracy” in southern states.
- Minnesota has a huge immigrant population and still has the second-highest rate on the map, so maybe not.
  
  They're Hmong immigrants though, who are eager to assimilate into American culture, and are mostly 1st and 2nd generation Americans now.

Now cross it up with an immigration map.
We slamming Florida here? Then why is the liberal bastion of California even worse off? LOL, bet NYC counts for the vast majority of illiterates in New York.
C'mon y'all. This is interesting data, but it says nothing about state politics. A conservative could use this as an anti-immigration ad. (Please don't give 'em ideas.)
- It does seem like there's a correlation with high density cities...maybe larger elementary class sizes lead to lower literacy? Or maybe more folks "slip through the cracks" in large cities (dropping out, etc). I hope some smart people are parsing this data, and we'll eventually be able to get some good policy outcomes from it...green up those areas a bit.
- Florida sucks for many reasons, not just their terrible record at literacy.