‘Dumbest’ Town in Illinois Isn’t as Clueless as Internet Thinks

I want to be clear that this is not my opinion, but the internet thinks it knows where the dumbest town in Illinois is. While I think this small town is getting a bad rap, it's possible they should also buy a vowel.

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I have to confess that I don't know what would make a town dumb. While I admit the metrics chosen by Roadsnacks make a reasonable case, I'll also add that I think they got part of this wrong. They chose to focus on two main areas of data: the dropout rate of residents and how many are "highly educated". I don't completely agree with using that last one, but before I debate the methodology, here are the results.

What is the dumbest town in Illinois according to the internet?

Roadsnacks has smacked the "dumbest" label on little ole Pickneyville, Illinois in the downstate part of the Land of Lincoln. I'll admit the numbers are kind of damning when it comes to education as they show Pickeyville has a dropout rate of 30%. Yikes. Only 8% of Pickneyville qualifies as "highly educated". 

Now, it's my turn. I would argue that being college educated doesn't necessarily make one smarter in life. I truly believe that many who either choose to not go to college and/or can't afford to learn more by getting out there and living life. I went to a grand total of one year of college while also working full-time and decided I wanted to dive into my career as I was learning more on the job than books could teach me.

Also, look at Pickneyville's sign and I'll show you something more important than book smarts. It's called niceness.

I'm not trying to dog Roadsnacks fun article. I'm just not good with slapping a "dummy" sign on a town just because they didn't spend 4 years driving up debt on student loans.