Report: Buckeye ranks among smartest cities for news readership in Arizona, U.S.

Buckeye has earned a spot on SmartNews's list of the smartest cities in Arizona, ranking among the top 50 cities nationally and top 10 in the state for daily news consumption.

The recognition comes from SmartNews's first-ever “Smartest Cities” report, which analyzed per capita news reading habits using app data from across the country. Green Valley topped the list in Arizona, while other cities making the cut include Sun City, Flagstaff, Casa Grande Payson and Buckeye.  Apache Junction, Sierra Vista, Sedona, Mesa and Tucson rounded out the state's top 10.

Buckeye ranked sixth out of 28 Arizona cities, which were among the 999 most news-literate in the U.S. The ranking was based on the amount of time residents spent reading news on the SmartNews app during the first quarter of 2025, according to the report.

The full national rankings are available on the SmartNews website.

SmartNews, a Palo Alto-based news aggregator, claims its unique position to serve millions of users nationwide by enabling leaders to measure news engagement across a broad range of communities and demographics.

“Arizona has some of the most intelligent people in the country,” said Jason Alderman of SmartNews. “There has long been a friendly rivalry between the cities in Arizona about which is the smartest, and now SmartNews has settled the debate with this definitive list.”

SmartNews is a news aggregator app used by millions, according to a press release. The application provides SmartNews with unique insights into the news consumption of Americans, independent of ideology, economic status, or location. The locations are ranked based on the time spent viewing news per capita, specifically in the SmartNews app, during the first quarter of 2025, according to the report.

Founded in 2012, SmartNews partners with more than 3,000 media outlets and combines artificial intelligence with editorial expertise to deliver personalized news to its users.

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