The PBJ has a story about a study out of an institution called Central Connecticut State University. The study, which has been done since 2003, compiles a handful of reading and academic metrics to assign literate rankings:

The report scored 75 cities of 250,000 people or more against indicators, including education level, Internet use, newspaper circulation, number of booksellers, library services and local publications. Topping the list was Seattle, followed by Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis. Pittsburgh and Atlanta rounded out the top five.

Phoenix came in a dispiriting 59th. Tucson came in 45th.

The study was done by John Miller, the president of the university, who began it when he was a chancellor of a school in Wisconsin. You can read the study and look at the various rankings here.