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Is there anything really wrong with being called a Georgia redneck? Most rednecks would say, “I don’t care what you call me, as long as you call me for supper.”
Rednecks are a part of our culture. They are hailed as being great in our song lyrics. They’re prominently featured in reality television. There are even video games about rednecks.
So, you’d think people who are rednecks would be proud to be called a redneck.
Wait. What is a redneck anyways? Well, according to the official bible of literature, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a redneck is:
“ a white person who lives in a small town or in the country especially in the southern U.S., who typically has a working-class job, and who is seen by others as being uneducated and having opinions and attitudes that are offensive”
Plus, we thought why not add in a few stereotypes? Cause, you know, rednecks live in mobile home parks and they like to hunt, drink, smoke and shoot things. And shop at Bass Pro Shops, Walmart and Piggly Wiggly.
Using that criteria, it’s not hard to scrape the internet, run some scientific data on where rednecks might live in Georgia, and then put out a list.
Because, the data never lies, does it? So hold our beers and watch while we run some rankings!
After analyzing all 618 cities in The Peach State, we came up with this list as The Most Redneck Cities in Georgia:
- Ellijay
- Acworth (Photos)
- Pembroke
- Adairsville (Photos)
- Doraville (Photos)
- Cumming (Photos)
- Gainesville (Photos)
- Bainbridge (Photos)
- Chickamauga
- Clayton
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked. And remember, these definitely aren’t the worst places to live in Georgia.
What redneck criteria did we use?
In order to rank the most redneck cities in Georgia, we had to determine what criteria makes a redneck.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using Yelp and Google Maps, this is the criteria we used:
The dictionary definition categories
- Small towns
- Least amount of high school graduates
- Lives in the south
And the stereotypical categories
- Number of dive bars per city
- Number of mobile home parks per capita
- Number of tobacco stores per city
- Number of guns and ammo stores per city
- Walmarts, Bass Pro Shops, Dollar Generals and Piggly Wigglys nearby
Note: For the sake of getting reliable numbers, we counted places within a city’s border, as well as within a short driving distance.
If you’d like to see the complete list of cities, from most to least redneck, we put in a list of the top 150 cities in a chart at the bottom. Hope you’re on there if you want to be.
Edit: Due to popular demand, we have Ellijay, GA #1 Redneck City T-Shirts. Click here to get one!
1. Ellijay
Population: 1,530
Gun stores per capita: 21st
Fishing shops per capita: 4th
Mobile home parks per capita: 10th in the state
High school graduation rate: 66%
Congratulations, Ellijay. You have the official bragging rights as being named the most redneck city in the entire state of Georgia. You may now brag to your friends and share this endlessly on your Facebook walls.
Lets see why. First off, this town has the second number of bars per capita in the state. That means when you come in from trolling at the Ellijay or Cartecay/Coosawatee Rivers, you have several options for a cold one. Or, you can skip on down to Carters Lake, where you can get some great Walleye.
And, you’re right at the base of the Rich Mountain Wilderness Area, which has great hunting, including bear. Ellijay is way up on Route 5 in the northern part of the state.
When you factor in the number of tobacco shops, and that there are two Dollar Generals and a Walmart within short driving distance, can you argue with the data?
Oh, don’t forget, probably one of the most redneck presidents of all time, Jimmy Carter, has a cabin here. Remember, his redneck brother Billy Carter once started a company called Billy Beer.
Edit: Due to popular demand, we have Ellijay, GA #1 Redneck City T-Shirts. Click here to get one!
2. Acworth
Population: 20,799
High school graduation rate: 89%
Gun stores per capita: 12th highest
Bars per capita: 12th in Georgia
Mobile home parks per capita: 24th in the state
Do you remember that study that came out two years ago that said Atlanta was the most redneck city in the nation? Many people were stumped, but the fact is, the surrounding areas of Atlanta are what made Atlanta win. Acworth might be the most redneck of them all.
Acworth has a high number of places to buy guns and fishing gear, plus a lot of bars, per capita. Rednecks can have a field day here. You’ve got Striper Soup Bait and Tackle, Cabelas, two Walmarts and two Dollar Generals nearby, where the Misses can get her shop on as well.
Most importantly, Acworth is right at the base of Lake Acworth, a huge lake with a ton of bass options. And you’re right down the road from Kennesaw, the Georgia city that voted to ban mosques within their city limits.
If that isn’t redneck, what is?
3. Pembroke
Population: 2,645
High school graduation rate: 73%
Gun stores per capita: 13th in Georgia
Fishing shops per capita: 26th in the state
Pembroke is a teeny town on Route 280 about an hour outside of Savannah. While they don’t have a sheer number of redneck things, they have a high number per capita. That means the rednecks here get the redneckery all to themselves.
You can get your gear at Southern Sportsman, and then head on down to one of several small creeks and streams nearby to get your fish on. While many might be on private land, when did a ‘No Fishing’ sign ever stop a redneck?
You’ve got a Dollar General all to yourselves way out here, and Savannah has a Bass Pro Shops. Fire up that truck and grab the kids, there’s probably a sale on camo this weekend!
Most of the folks in Pembroke have blue collar jobs. That’s so redneck.
4. Adairsville
Population: 4,660
Gun stores per capita: 26th in Georgia
Fishing gear per capita: 30th in the state
Tobacco stores per capita: 18th
Adairsville is interesting, since 81% of the population here has a high school degree. According to the definition of a redneck, most have blue collar jobs. So, that means there are a lot of smart rednecks here.
Plus, it makes sense that Adairsville ranks so high. Not too far away is the small city of White, Georgia, which hosts the annual Northern Georgia Redneck Games. So you know there are lots of rednecks up here.
Adairsville is located along I-75, at the base of Johns Mountain Wildlife Area, where you can bet there’s great hunting all year long.
5. Doraville
Population: 10,048
Fishing and bait shops per capita: 30th in Georgia
High school graduation rate: 55%
Bars in the area: 5th in the state
Tobacco stores per capita: 9th in the state
Well, we have our 2nd of three Atlanta suburbs on this list. Doraville is a smallish city with a lot of options in the general area if you want to drink, buy your chew and get your fishing gear.
Of course, having a population with about half blue collar workers really made Doraville rank higher than many other cities. We’re pretty sure that while Doraville isn’t the ‘traditional looking’ redneck city, the people there won’t complain about the compliment.
6. Cumming
Population: 5,504
Mobile home parks per capita in area: 11th in Georgia
Bars per capita and nearby: 12th most in the state
Tobacco shops per capita: 6th most
Fishing stores per capita: 3rd most
Cumming is considered an Atlanta suburb, but lets be real. It’s 45 minutes from downtown, and separated enough that rednecks can thrive in peace. Let’s call them city-slicker rednecks.
Cumming has a high number of fishing gear options, tobacco outlets, and has a large number of camping and RV/trailer parks nearby. Plus, it’s two-thirds white.
For all of the professional rednecks who do the ATL commute, you’ve got a lot of weekend options. Lake Lanier is just huge, and at 38,000 acres, a redneck could be entertained all summer long, pulling out bass and striper on a Saturday afternoon, listening to the Bulldogs on the radio.
Plus there’s this comment on City-Data: “I went to a bank in downtown Cumming and a guy in line was spitting his gross tobacco juice into an empty water bottle he was holding and nobody else seemed to even notice.”
7. Gainesville
Population: 14,363
Bars per capita and the area: 17th most in Georgia
Gun stores per capita: 7th in the state
Tobacco stores per capita: 17th in the state
Mobile home parks in area: 10th most
Gainesville is located on the northern end of Lake Lanier, where the Chattahoochee River ends. So you know they’ve got some great fishing.
Did you know there are a bunch of mobile home parks/trailer parks/RV parks in the area? There are. And any good redneck knows that those are some of the best places to meet folks, share fishing stories, and talk about that big buck that got away.
Plus, up the road is the far southern base of the Appalachian Mountains, where you’ve got some of the biggest bucks in the state.
No wonder there are so many rednecks here.
8. Bainbridge
Population: 12,624
Tobacco stores per capita: 26th in state
Fishing stores per capita: 19th in the state
Bars per capita: 21st in the state
In reading the forums and chatter on the web, it seems as if there’s a debate as to whether northern or southern Georgia have the most rednecks in the state. Well, Bainbridge is the first true southern Georgia city to make this list. Does that settle the argument?
Bainbridge is a true southern Georgia redneck city. It has a lot of options for getting fishing gear and tobacco, and for saddling up to the bar to get a beer and some good southern food, such as at Boyd’s Bar-Be-Que. Plus, Bainbridge has a Walmart and three Dollar Generals, where the kids can get their cheap candy and pops before heading out to Lake Seminole with dad.
The Flint River meanders right through downtown Bainbridge as well. There’s no length limit on spotted bass here, and spots are aggressive and ready to strike most lures used for largemouth and shoal bass. Get ‘er done!
9. Chickamauga
Population: 3,103
Walmarts per capita: 2nd in Georgia
Fishing stores per capita: 32nd in the state
Tobacco stores per person: 3rd
Mobile home parks per capita: 5th
If you’re driving up Route 27 on your way to Chattanooga, you’ll come to Chickamauga, where it’s 98% white and there are two Walmarts, plenty of fishing opportunities on the Chickamauga Creek, and hunting is a redneck’s dream.
Nearby, you have plenty of deer, rabbit, turkey, opossum, dove, and coon hunting. And there’s no one around for miles and miles.
And when you look at the numbers above, why would a redneck want to live anywhere else?
10. Clayton
Population: 2,089
Fishing stores per capita: 5th most
Bars per capita: 8th most in Georgia
Walmarts per person: 1st in the state
Up in the hills on Route 15, near the North Carolina border, is the tiny town of Clayton. If word gets out how rednecky it is here, they might put up a new sign as you pull into town.
You’ve got some of the best hunting and fishing in the state, a ton of bars, and two Walmarts and a Dollar General nearby. What do you do when one Walmart is out of bait or doe urine spray? You go to the other one.
It’s 80% white up here, and you know most of the folks here are of the blue collar variety.
There You Have It
According to the official dictionary definition of a redneck, and based on stereotypes that the internet says are true, using science to determine the most redneck cities in a state can’t be too far off. If you’re analyzing smaller towns in Georgia with blue collar workers, where people have lots of options for drinking, smoking, hunting and Walmarting, this is an accurate list.
If you’re curious enough, here are the least redneck cities in Georgia, according to science.
- Dutch Island (Pop. 1,019)
- Heron Bay (Pop. 4,003)
- Druid Hills (Pop. 13,811)
- Henderson (Pop. 2,048)
- Dawsonville (Pop. 2,547)
If you’re curious, we also identified the worst places to live in Georgia. You can check it out here.
Wait! What??? White only gets a mention!?!? WTH??? We have a bait and tackle shop, beer just over the city limit (literally a hop, skip, and a jump) and a hardware store that peddles firearms. Not to mention the Dollar General is THE local tobacco shop. Furthermore, those who work have blue collar yobs, half the town IS a trailer park, AND we have the fewest number of teeth per capita.
Having a Walmart doesn’t make it a redneck town. They skipped all these small towns like fairmount and ranger that don’t have anything other than a few places to eat a few gas stations and a dollar store. These are the towns everybody knows everybody and everyone is willing to help out when needed true rednecks not these people missing half their damn teeth because they’ve been tweaked up half there lives
Stupid survey lol
This study is way flawed. I suspected as much when I saw Gainesville listed at number 7.
First, the population number is way off. While I assume the researchers used white population as part of their data set, even that number is off. According to the 2010 census, Gainesville had a white population of 18,333; not the 14,363 number used in the study.
The total reported population of Gainesville was 33,804 in 2010. Of that number 54.2% identified as white and 41.6% identified as Hispanic. We can assume that there were a significant number of underreported Hispanics.
While Hall Gainesville certainly has its share of rednecks, I doubt the researchers controlled for this large Hispanic population.
Many of the in-town bars cater to that demographic, so the number of bars would be over-reported in relation to the white population. In addition, the in-town mobile home parks are likely occupied by Hispanic families.
My suspicion was confirmed when Dawsonville was identified at the 5th least redneck city in Georgia. Wow … just, wow! Perhaps the researchers could have included junked cars and NASCAR flags as part of their criteria.
P.S. The above comment is an opinion based on facts and is meant as info-tainment. Don’t freak out. 😉
We scored #1, so please say the name right…
It’s pronounced L-er-j…
He evidently never visited McIntosh County huh Richard Holt
You are wrong about Cumming! Please visit dawsonville and you will change your mind! Who ever did this study please get your facts togethere and actually visit Dawsonville! It is a scary place!
What about Ludowici? But maybe the south GA cities don’t make the list because they are predominantly Black population and one of the criteria is percent white.
This list has no legitimacy, none whatsoever. Two towns that are so redneck they even speak “redneckian” are not even in the top 150. Those would be Dublin and Moultrie. You just don’t get any more “redneck” than Moultrie in South GA, and Dublin even has “REDNECK GAMES” yearly. It’s even been on the national news. I noticed that even in the top 20 there was only 2 in South GA. I knew right then it was flawed, very flawed!
I have one more “proof-positive” fact that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that this list is a phony. Dalton is listed at #12. Well, in the last actual census(check it out) which was 2010, that city has an unbelievable population of 48% Hispanic. The average for Ga. is only about 8.5%. So tell me how a city of 33,000 which would have a distinct populace of “we all know what” at about 16,500 could possibly be “redneck”? As a true southern redneck would say, “t’aint possible” !
This is a terrible list. First off, Lake Acworth is TINY. The correct geographical reference for fishing near Acworth is Lake Allatoona. Second, real redneck towns don’t have a Wal Mart – or any of those ‘name brand’ stores. A few may be lucky enough to have a Dollar General, but that’s about it. Third, redneck towns don’t hardly ever have more than ONE bar, tobacco shop, etc. This list was clearly compiled by a bunch of useless, know nothing yankees.
oh come on you have to include a town that has a dirt track! At least one! That’s redneck
I’m not sure those should be the only criteria. Have you ever been to Fairmount?
Just a correction. In Ellijay we actually have about 4-5 dollar generals all within driving distance thank you. Also the poorhouse is not the favorite bar in town. That would be River street tavern where the turn out for wing night on Wednesdays is always enormous.
First of all I was born and raised in Chickamauga and we don’t have a Walmart that’s Lafayette ! It’s all historical due to war and the old days ! My daughter graduated from Gordon lee top of the class yes there are big trucks and also that’s everywhere ! There are all kinds of dollar stores in Lafayette Forto gel Thorpe and also Ringgold ! There are trailer parks in other Lafayette , Ringgold and actually everywhere , there are people that don’t clean up there yards yes but that’s everywhere also so no I disagree on how people won’t to stereo type Chickamauga I would rather be in Chickamauga where people smile and are not materialistic with there nose in the hair and can’t smile snobby people ! Chickamauga is the place if u go walk people smile or say hello just nice down to earth how I wont my kids to treat people as in I don’t care what people have or job or clothes because that’s not what makes u a nice respectful person ! I hate people that act like there better than people ! So before you rank Chickamauga or any other hometown city for that fact get the truth first !
Agree Scottish lady loves Chickamauga.correct miss GA smily friendly people.north are cold as the temperature.GA best in my world in all US.
Apparently going outside of the Atkanta metro area was too expensive for your bogus article. If you want redneck— get out of Atlanta where home grown Georgians live. You can’t get anymore redneck than Waycross, Byron, Manchester, Cochran, Madison, LaGrange, Dallas and SO many others. If your less than an hour from Turner Stadium in downtown Atlanta, you’re not in redneck country yet.
Since when does Clayton have two Walmarts? You must be confusing the City of Clayton (Rabun County) in NE Ga with Clayton County just south of Atlanta. Believe me, I have homes in BOTH areas. They are over two hours apart from each other.
Bad research on the part of these “researchers”. Haha.
How Redneck is Chatsworth, GA? We are looking for a home there and we are friendly country folk. I’m the redneck one. I grow worms under my rabbits the size of boa constrictors!
Not sure if the one who wrote this article ran out of ideas on what to publish, so they made up an insanely bogus way of coming up with a list of cities that fit a certain “criteria”. Now I may not be the biggest fan of Bainbridge but I can assure you it is nowhere near as redneck and poor as you made it seem. There are many towns that can claim that category way before Bainbridge. Bainbridge has one Walmart supercenter and that is where people buy the majority of their fishing and tobacco supplies. The photo isn’t even our Walmart so your article is not even using accurate photos. As far as Dollar General the last I checked Georgia was not the only place with a Dollar store. I guess every city in California is a redneck place if having a Dollar Store and Walmart in it is what meets your criteria. Also it’s not as poor as you made it seem. Maybe you should visit and come to the very nice neighborhoods which are located all throughout the city of Bainbridge? Houses that are on the market, have sold for over a million dollars down to $25,000. So I don’t think you done the most accurate research. Many leave here and go to UGA or Georgia Tech or join the service. There isn’t some ridiculous number of violence. There aren’t many murders and gang activity. There are is only one lounge that people go to and have drinks which last I checked is common everywhere. A couple of places you named as a bar don’t even serve alcohol. We have just 2 bar and grills. We have nice places on the Square and elsewhere with nice and expensive clothes and housewares etc. I could go on but my point is its better to do thorough research before writing some very incorrect information
Doraville? Really?
I’ve lived in Clayton my whole life. Where’s the second wal-mart? I’m redneck, but I’m a hell of a lot smarter then the dumb butt that checked the geographical area of Clayton. Good luck on your future documentation.
Can you tell me more about Clayton? We want to move to Clayton and buy a house in the mountains. Thanks
What a moronic article. So many exaggerations and generalizations. Ellijay is rated on of the best towns in Georgia and tourists visit from all around the world. Hardly just rednecks.
I guess you haven’t been to Cumming. While every city has a population of ‘white trash’ or ‘rednecks’ or whatever you choose to call it, (think Chicago, NYC, LA, whatever) Cumming also boasts one of the wealthiest areas in the state, and leads in the STEM program with that ‘city’ district school. We also happen to have a large population of Asians and Indians (check out South Forsyth and Lambert HS stats), so even if we’re dumb rednecks, they tip the scales for the surrounding counties in a favorable direction, don’t you think? Nonetheless, we struggle to get into schools like UGA, not because we can’t, but because our GPAs are TOO HIGH, and TOO MANY of us apply, and DO get accepted, and the schools want diversity, so we’re typically the last to be chosen, which GPAs averaging well above 4.0. Check your statistics again. You must be stuck in the 80s. Oprah’s march happened a long time ago, and most of the population here wasn’t even born here, but we do our best to make the South proud.
This is a BS article! Ellijay, Acworth, Cumming ain’t nothing but a bunch of city slickers. Felton (Haralson County). This is a place where if someone ever moves the house gets burned down to keep anyone else (outsiders) from moving in. Dirt roads, hunting, Fishing, Meth, Moonshine, and poverty. That’s about all you find here. Everyone wears camo. The nearest Wal-Mart is 20 miles away. Dollar General is 12 miles away.
Yeah whoever made this article clearly doesn’t live in the state of GA. Love people who don’t have a clue making these things up.