Of the 199 fully scanned U.S. city sites we tested, 50 (25%) read above an 8th grade level. Hard text slows people down. Some give up before they find what they need. We score the text on each homepage with the Automated Readability Index (ARI). It estimates the U.S. school grade a reader needs. Another 13 had too little text on the homepage to score. They get no pass or fail. Among states with at least 10 tested sites, Texas has the highest share (30%). California has the lowest (20%). This page uses the Reading level check. It passes when the homepage text reads at or below an 8th grade level. That means an ARI score of 8.5 or lower. We need at least 100 words to score a page.
50 of 199
City sites that read above an 8th grade level
25%
Share of tested city sites that fail this check
22 of 41
States with at least one failing city site
30%
Texas has the highest share: 14 of 47 tested city sites
By state
The share of tested city sites in each state that read above an 8th grade level.
| State | Tested | Above 8th grade | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| West Virginia | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Louisiana | 4 | 3 | 75% |
| New York | 3 | 2 | 67% |
| South Carolina | 3 | 2 | 67% |
| Georgia | 4 | 2 | 50% |
| New Jersey | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| North Dakota | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Oklahoma | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Washington | 7 | 3 | 43% |
| North Carolina | 6 | 2 | 33% |
| Colorado | 3 | 1 | 33% |
| New Mexico | 3 | 1 | 33% |
| Texas | 47 | 14 | 30% |
| Florida | 11 | 3 | 27% |
| Illinois | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| Missouri | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| California | 30 | 6 | 20% |
| Michigan | 5 | 1 | 20% |
| Tennessee | 5 | 1 | 20% |
| Ohio | 6 | 1 | 17% |
| Virginia | 6 | 1 | 17% |
| Alabama | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Arizona | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Arkansas | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Connecticut | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Idaho | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Indiana | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Kansas | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Maine | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Maryland | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Massachusetts | 6 | 0 | 0% |
| Minnesota | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Montana | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Nevada | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| New Hampshire | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Oregon | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| South Dakota | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Utah | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Wisconsin | 2 | 0 | 0% |
The 50 city sites that read above an 8th grade level
Sorted by state, then name. Each site links to its readability report and shows its readability and overall grades from the same scan. ARI and Flesch-Kincaid (FK) are the two reading grades from that scan. Both show a U.S. school grade.
| Site | State | ARI | FK | Readability | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fontanaca.gov City of Fontana, CA |
California | 8.8 | 9.2 | F | C |
| modestogov.com City of Modesto, CA |
California | 9.4 | 10.0 | F | C |
| ontarioca.gov City of Ontario, CA |
California | 11.5 | 11.7 | F | B |
| cityofpalmdaleca.gov City of Palmdale, CA |
California | 9.8 | 10.4 | F | C |
| temeculaca.gov City of Temecula, CA |
California | 10.4 | 12.3 | F | C |
| victorvilleca.gov City of Victorville, CA |
California | 10.2 | 9.2 | F | B |
| bouldercolorado.gov City of Boulder, CO |
Colorado | 19.3 | 17.1 | F | B |
| gainesvillefl.gov City of Gainesville, FL |
Florida | 13.1 | 10.8 | F | A |
| miramarfl.gov City of Miramar, FL |
Florida | 9.7 | 9.1 | F | B |
| pompanobeachfl.gov City of Pompano Beach, FL |
Florida | 8.9 | 9.7 | F | B |
| augustaga.gov City of Augusta, GA |
Georgia | 10.2 | 9.4 | F | C |
| savannahga.gov City of Savannah, GA |
Georgia | 9.7 | 9.3 | F | C |
| rockfordil.gov City of Rockford, IL |
Illinois | 9.8 | 8.8 | F | C |
| brla.gov City of Baton Rouge, LA |
Louisiana | 10.4 | 9.1 | F | D |
| nola.gov City of New Orleans, LA |
Louisiana | 10.8 | 10.9 | F | A |
| shreveportla.gov City of Shreveport, LA |
Louisiana | 9.7 | 9.6 | F | C |
| sterlingheights.gov City of Sterling Heights, MI |
Michigan | 10.0 | 8.9 | F | C |
| como.gov City of Columbia, MO |
Missouri | 11.3 | 11.2 | F | A |
| newarknj.gov City of newark, NJ |
New Jersey | 10.1 | 9.6 | F | C |
| cabq.gov City of Albuquerque, NM |
New Mexico | 9.0 | 10.1 | F | B |
| syr.gov City of Syracuse, NY |
New York | 8.9 | 8.4 | F | B |
| yonkersny.gov City of Yonkers, NY |
New York | 10.3 | 9.4 | F | C |
| fayettevillenc.gov City of Fayetteville, NC |
North Carolina | 9.4 | 10.2 | F | B |
| wilmingtonnc.gov City of Wilmington, NC |
North Carolina | 9.6 | 9.5 | F | B |
| bismarcknd.gov City of Bismarck, ND |
North Dakota | 8.9 | 8.2 | F | C |
| clevelandohio.gov City of Cleveland, OH |
Ohio | 9.4 | 9.6 | F | B |
| normanok.gov City of Norman, OK |
Oklahoma | 9.3 | 6.9 | F | B |
| providenceri.gov City of Providence, RI |
Rhode Island | 11.8 | 11.0 | F | B |
| columbiasc.gov City of Columbia, SC |
South Carolina | 11.2 | 11.5 | F | C |
| northcharleston.org City of North Charleston, SC |
South Carolina | 8.9 | 9.5 | F | C |
| knoxvilletnpolice.gov City of Knoxville, TN |
Tennessee | 8.9 | 12.3 | F | B |
| amarillo.gov City of Amarillo, TX |
Texas | 17.2 | 16.3 | F | B |
| austintexas.gov City of Austin, TX |
Texas | 9.2 | 9.8 | F | C |
| corpuschristitx.gov City of Corpus Christi, TX |
Texas | 10.1 | 9.8 | F | B |
| cityofdenton.com City of Denton, TX |
Texas | 10.3 | 10.6 | F | C |
| harriscountytx.gov City of Harris County, TX |
Texas | 10.8 | 11.0 | F | B |
| hilshirevillagetexas.com City of Hilshire Village, TX |
Texas | 10.0 | 9.5 | F | C |
| southsideplacetx.gov City of Houston, TX |
Texas | 8.6 | 8.4 | F | C |
| houstontx.gov City of Houston, TX |
Texas | 10.8 | 10.9 | F | C |
| irvingtx.gov City of Irving, TX |
Texas | 9.9 | 9.6 | F | D |
| newbraunfels.gov City of New Braunfels, TX |
Texas | 9.9 | 9.6 | F | C |
| cityofpineypoint.com City of Piney Point Village, TX |
Texas | 11.3 | 10.6 | F | C |
| sa.gov City of San Antonio, TX |
Texas | 9.9 | 10.1 | F | A |
| seabrooktx.gov City of Seabrook, TX |
Texas | 9.5 | 8.8 | F | C |
| shoreacrestx.us City of Shoreacres, TX |
Texas | 15.9 | 7.6 | F | C |
| cityofchesapeake.net City of Chesapeake, VA |
Virginia | 8.7 | 8.3 | F | C |
| bellevuewa.gov City of Bellevue, WA |
Washington | 13.6 | 12.4 | F | C |
| everettwa.gov City of Everett, WA |
Washington | 10.3 | 10.5 | F | C |
| tacoma.gov City of Tacoma, WA |
Washington | 9.0 | 10.2 | F | B |
| charlestonwv.gov City of Charleston, WV |
West Virginia | 9.9 | 9.9 | F | D |
About this check
Reading level is one of the readability checks. The homepage text reads at or below an 8th grade level.
Why it matters
Plain text helps people get what they need the first time. Hard text leads to more calls, more errors, and more visits.
Risk
Users struggle to understand your content.
Guidance
About this data
ScanGov scans the homepage of each county site on our county list. Scores come from the checks in the ScanGov standards. Sites were scanned between 9/30/2026 and 11/5/2026. Each site's report shows its own scan date. A site counts as fully scanned when its homepage loaded and sent us its page content. Averages, grade shares, failure rates, and ranks use fully scanned sites only. We could not fully scan 54 sites. They did not respond, blocked the scanner, or sent no page content. They appear in the table without grades, with their scan status, and are left out of every figure. Grades follow the ScanGov grade scale. Rank follows the ScanGov ranking method. The full dataset, with every county's raw results, is in the ScanGov data repository.
13 fully scanned city sites had too little text on the homepage to score. They are left out of the share.