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Do you know anyone whom you’d refer to as Trashy? Most likely. Either there’s someone at your job, in your neighborhood, or in your family that you’d throw that label on.
Essentially, Trashy is everywhere.
While calling someone Trashy might be a mean-spirited way of ridiculing or poking fun at a particular demographic, it can also serve as a way to express disdain about the way someone lives their life. It isn’t as derogatory as using other racial slurs, and in fact, the term has a bit of humor associated with it, making it the focus of pop culture.
Take for instance Jerry Springer, Honey Boo Boo, Kid Rock, Eminem, Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite and even Cousin Eddie in National Lampoon movies.
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, trashy is defined as:
“A term used broadly to define a person or group of persons whom embody the concepts of ignorance, racism, violence, alcoholism, poverty, and anglo-saxon ancestry. Similarly used with the term ‘cracker,’ ‘hillbilly’ or ‘redneck’.”
So, using some data crunching, we should be able to measure where the most Trashy communities in the state of Kentucky are actually located.
After pouring over data, watching too many fist fights and perusing illiterate Facebook comments, we’ve determined these are the most Trashy cities in Kentucky:
- Somerset (Photos)
- Hazard (Photos)
- Williamsburg (Photos)
- Dayton (Photos)
- Campbellsville (Photos)
- Elizabethtown (Photos)
- Winchester (Photos)
- Bowling Green (Photos)
- Glasgow (Photos)
- London (Photos)
Time to take some meth and stay up all night with us as we go through the cities one by one. And before you say we’re some kind of reverse racist, you can also check out the most Ghetto city in Kentucky.
For more reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Kentucky
- 10 Safest Places In Kentucky
- These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In Kentucky
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How we determined the most trashy cities in Kentucky?
Using publicly available government data, as well as Google Maps, we were able to collect the data on the following trashy metrics:
- Cities where there are lots of white people
- Cities where residents are poorer than average
- Cities where a high number of residents are high school dropouts
- Cities with a high number of single parents
- High drug use
- Higher than average Payday Loan Outlets
- Violent cities (measured in aggravated assaults)
- Cities with a high number of residents on welfare
We used the government Census for most of the data. For drug use and violence, we used FBI data, and for Cash Advance Outlets, we used Google Maps.
Simple, right?
We limited the analysis to non-CDPs that have over 5,000 people.
Then, we ranked each place from 1 to 69 for each of the trashy criteria.
Next, then averaged all the ranks to create a “trashy index”.
In the end, Somerset ended up being the the most trashy city in the Bluegrass State.
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1. Somerset
Population: 11,196
Estimated Trashy: 2,367
Welfare population: 20%
Payday Loan Outlets: 3
Toss back a Budweiser, and suck down another Camel, Somerset, cause you’re the whitest trash of all in Kentucky.
Many of the folks in Somerset smell of cheap cigarettes; and if you grew up in Somerset, there’s a decent chance you just love everybody. They love their cousin’s mommy, their cousin’s daddy, their cousin’s sister, their cousin’s paw paw, their cousin’s maw maw, and all of their double, triple, quadruple cousins cousins. That’s a lot of love.
Somerset ranks in the top 10% for several categories, including the number of residents on welfare, the most amount of high school dropouts, as well as a high number of payday loans per capita.
Don’t laugh, Ferguson. You weren’t too far out of the top 10 yourself.
2. Hazard
Population: 5,436
Estimated Trashy: 4,999
Welfare population: 22%
Single parents: 28%
Hazard comes in at a smoky, meth-filled, hazy second. This number doesn’t reflect the high number of mullets (is it a mullet, a perm, or merm Hazard?), shag haircuts, bangs teased out like it’s 1990, and the number of people who wear pajamas to Walmart.
#BringBackTheDaisyDukes
Hazard’s population is as close to 100% white as you can possibly get. If you live here, and you are white, you’re most likely making wind chimes out of beer cans.
Hazard was in the top 5 for poor, uneducated white residents, and ranks high for check cashing outlets. At least the large number of cash advance companies are creating jobs in Hazard.
3. Williamsburg
Population: 5,949
Estimated Trashy: 1,283
High school dropouts: 17%
Single parents: 25%
Williamsburg is located along the Cumberland River. When it comes to defining proper trashy etiquette in this town, always remember the cardinal rule: You need to be careful what you say in Williamsburg because someone might come over and pop the wheels on your house. Or was it, you mess with me, you mess with the whole trailer park? So confusing. That’s what happens when you try livin’ the Williamsburg Way: 24 beer cans, 24 hours in a day. Genius.
Williamsburg ranks in the top 5 for three separate trashy metrics, including a number of aggravated assaults, and for poor, white single mothers on welfare.
And word on the street, it’s the best place to get your fix in the 606.
4. Dayton
Population: 5,540
Estimated Trashy: 1,979
Payday Loan Outlets: 3
Assaults ranking: 5th in KY
Single white moms: 20%
Chances are, if you and your kid(s) moved in with someone after just two dates, than you might be from Dayton.
This city ranks fifth in the state for aggravated assaults (meaning drunken fist fights). And in pure trashy form, when it comes to fightin’ over that week’s favorite meth slut, you better believe it will be handled bare knuckle to bare knuckle in your trailer’s front yard. Just please, please, watch out for the car on cinder blocks, and the crapper, and the broken down mower.
This small city in Campbell County is is located along the Ohio River in the middle of nowhere. And, according to online forums, Dayton has a major drug problem. Even the Ohio River rats are doing heroin. Trashy river rats? That should be a reality show for sure!
#BringBackTheVeteransMemorial
5. Campbellsville
Population: 10,691
Estimated Trashy: 4,225
Assaults: 7th for small cities in KY
Payday Loan Outlets: 3
Campbellsville is located pretty much in the middle of nowhere-Kentucky.
Here they have their own set of trashy problems. The Horseshoe Casino is located in their city limits. And we all know that nothin’ says trashy like getting your paycheck and losing it all in the same day.
Campbellsville ranks in the top 5 for three separate trashy metrics, including number of aggravated assaults and for poor, white single mothers on welfare.
If you live here, there’s a good chance you’re makin’ meth. Meth-related arrests are on the rise in this ‘little piece of heaven’. Huffin’ ain’t easy people. You’re a true gem, Campbellsville.
6. Elizabethtown
Population: 28,699
Estimated Trashy: 10,342.5
Welfare population: 25%
Single parents: 25%
Drug use: 3rd for cities above 5,000 residents in KY
Located just south of Louisville, off the 65 is Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
It is definitely one of the “whitest cities” on our list. The number of drug-related crimes and aggravated assaults, combined with the high number of poor dropouts, makes this trashy central for Hardin County.
Is that Ricky Bobby’s kid? Fair question, Elizabethtown. They have the most black and white checkered flags in ‘Kentucky- land’ with 5 tracks located close by. But, don’t get your boxers in a bunch, we know the three things you don’t mess with in trashy land: racin’, drinkin’, and makin’ meth. And if you live in E-town, there’s a good chance you ain’t racin’, you’re makin’ meth.
7. Winchester
Population: 19,812
Estimated Trashy: 6,953
Drug use: 11th in KY for cities below 40,000
Payday Loan Outlets: 4
Winchester, where a large number of people live on disability, or work at one of the 20 or so Dollar Stores in the area. Just because you shop at the local dollar stores does not make you ‘country chic,’ Winchester, it makes you trashy.
And a lot of your trash must be getting into fist fights at your local dollar store when it’s 50% off day, because you are 3rd for aggravated assaults.
That’s right, in Winchester they fight over the lawn mower; they fight over what beer is better (Busch or Natural Light); they fight over who has more teeth; and of course, they fight over where the best meth is made. They just have a real chip on their shoulders.
Simmer down, Winchester. #NoShoesNoShirtNoTeethNoProblem
8. Bowling Green
Population: 60,517
Estimated Trashy: 23,675
Drug use: 10th in KY
Deadbeat dads: 7%
According to online forums, Bowling Green (A.K.A. Boring Green) is filled with slums and meth head Hornet fans. Hey don’t shoot the messenger!
You know you’re from Big Red country when you send your best friend to the liquor store and he calls 30 minutes later to tell you he’s going to be a little late cuz he got his mullet caught in the fan blade of his ‘79 Camaro.
#YouAlmostFeltTheWindInYourMullet
And if you’re a dead-beat dad named Rick who snorts Tylenol (because he can’t afford adderall), and you moved to Owensboro with your sister’s best friend, you might be from Bowling Green.
9. Glasgow
Population: 14,437
Estimated Trashy: 4,444
Assaults: 5th in KY
Drug use: 11th in KY
Single moms: 22%
Nothin’ says trashy like a good ‘ol ass whoopin at a Walmart. You just might see that in Glasgow every now and then.
In fact, Glasgow was home to the infamous trashy Walmart fight between the woman in the jammies and the other woman in the jammies. Maybe they should fight at their local dollar store so they won’t feel like they have to dress up.
And word on the street, they ARE down with O.P.P. (other people’s pills). They are 11th in the state for drug use.
Hey B-County, stay classy and keep it trashyy. Otherwise we won’t have anything to write about.
10. London
Population: 7,904
Estimated Trashy: 2,204
Welfare population: 17%
Single parents: 22%
Rounding out the list of the ten most trashy cities in Kentucky brings us to London. This is where the high class trashy live. You think you’re ‘all that’ with your World Chicken Festival. Where would they be without the Colonel.
London has a high number of single white moms with more than one kid. More babies = more $$. It’s all fun and games until somebody gets PG.
Obviously London is home to the high class trashy. It‘s a lifestyle, here: They have the most tattoo shops per capita. Way to keep the tramp stamp alive.
London, when are you going to stop smoking cigs with kids in your car? It’s not only hurting the environment, you have one of the highest dropout rates in the state. Meth smoke, cig smoke, pill mill pollution, Laurel County might single-handedly be responsible for global warming.
There You Have It
According to the official dictionary definition of Trashy, and based on stereotypes that the internet says are true, using science to determine the most Trashy cities in a state can’t be too far off.
If you’re analyzing cities in Kentucky with lots of angry welfare recipients, single mothers and where people have lots of options for payday cash loans, this is an accurate list.
If you’re curious enough, here are the least trashy places in Kentucky:
- Vine Grove
- Fort Mitchell
- Edgewood
For more Kentucky reading , check out:
