# I Live In The Dumbest State **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2002, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481 "2002-10-23T05:09:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/21 "2002-10-23T16:08:11Z")
Indiana’s number 9? :: boggle :: I thought upper half, maybe, but top 10? Wow… go us! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/22 "2002-10-23T17:08:13Z")
Wow, we just beat the coal miners and polygamists. Woohoo! ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/23 "2002-10-23T19:42:22Z")
Ok this is too funny. West Virginia, aka The Sticks, scored an 18; whereas Virginia, the place that houses William and Mary… the University that is famed to have graduated the most US presidents (if I recall correctly), ranks 37. I would have thought Northern Virginia would have at least moderately skewed those statistics. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/24 "2002-10-23T20:53:50Z")
**jackelope** , New Mexico is a fairly poor state with a larger than average rural minority population. This might account for the descrepancy you mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![CRorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CRorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRorex)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/25 "2002-10-23T21:01:35Z")
Texas isn’t in the low 40’s? Alaska is 25? Which is odd considering in 1st grade in Alaska I was taught programing and photography and what later realized was the beginning of algerba.\* * * * - I was in some sort of really bizzare gifted program however. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/26 "2002-10-23T21:04:43Z")
Jeez, Florida’s moved up a notch or two… #47 isn’t so bad when you consider the fact that the legislation is decided in a larger part by people who are retired and have kids in other states. Most of them don’t give a rat’s ass if the public school education in their state sucks because they don’t have to deal with it. This is why I went to a private college preparatory school on scholarship. It was a much better education thatn public school, but it still wasn’t up to par on the level of college preparatory schools in the north. Oh well. At least I’m educated and I can speak pretty well on some topics because I have a decent knowledge base to work from. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/27 "2002-10-23T21:14:28Z")
There’s many an Illinoisan who would be dismayed to see their home state at #33 and Wisconsin at #6. For my part, no comment. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/28 "2002-10-23T21:31:31Z")
Alaska isn’t in the low 40’s. How odd, considering they teach 1st graders “algerba”. Texan 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/29 "2002-10-23T21:57:59Z")
Thank goodness, I got edumicated in _small town_ TN. Which isn’t as bad as the larger cities like Nashville and Memphis, maybe because of the student/teacher ratio. When I moved to Nashville as a Senior in H.S., I couldn’t believe how behind they were. And the verbal grammar was unbelievable, from teachers and students. I got made fun of for using proper grammar with my country accent. I heard on the news this morning that Metro Nashville is trying to figure out what to do with all their \* adult\* H.S. students. Evidently, there’s a quite a few 18+ students in grades 9-12, that are unlikely to graduate their way out of the school system. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![JessEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cdc98d/32.png) [@JessEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessEnigma)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/30 "2002-10-23T23:09:47Z")
Heh, I don’t think small town Tennessee is much better. Depends on how small the town is. Those high schools up in the sticks with a total population of 50 probably don’t get many really good teachers. My school system is excellent, but the schools in dirt-poor counties really close by are not so good. Surely not as bad as the inner-city schools, but not a school system I would want to attend. ---
**Author:** ![airdisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19adc/32.png) [@airdisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/airdisc)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/31 "2002-10-23T23:20:02Z")
Yay! Tied with Alabama at 41st! I knew there was something wrong with my state when half the kids at my school thought the Earth was 6,000 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/32 "2002-10-23T23:20:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by h.sapiens \* > **There’s many an Illinoisan who would be dismayed to see their home state at #33 and Wisconsin at #6.** I knew there was a good reason why I moved out of Illinois and into Wisconsin to go to school. And, if I may say so myself, all the trees in Wisconsin bend south. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/33 "2002-10-23T23:47:43Z")
Hmmm … Florida’s near the bottom of the list, right above Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico. I went to school in New York (#26 on the list) until I was 16. Can I at least average the scores? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/34 "2002-10-24T03:12:29Z")
Wyoming got #8? Wow I guess when there really is nothing to do in your state , kids will even resort to studying. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/35 "2002-10-24T03:12:52Z")
Oooh. South Carolina is #36. Not too bad. But wait, there’s, like, 50 states, right? So that means we are, like, only, like, 5, 6 away from the, like, bottom 10. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/36 "2002-10-24T05:48:34Z")
I guess #19’s not so bad, considering we come in 50th when it comes to educational funding. So what excuses do the other 31 states have? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/37 "2002-10-24T06:00:58Z")
We’re #1! We’re #1! New Mexico so very rarely comes in first for _anything_. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/38 "2002-10-24T06:14:34Z")
We’re #4! Toxic waste must be good for the brain cells. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/39 "2002-10-24T07:09:15Z")
Iowa is in the Big Ten. algerba… heh. ---
**Author:** ![Mooney252](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@Mooney252](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooney252)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481/40 "2002-10-24T11:41:20Z")
[Dave Barry](http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/dave_barry/4315869.htm) roasts just about any state with pretensions of superiority. After all Washington’s motto could also mean “manana.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-dumbest-state/133481.md?page=3)