This Tri-Cities Town Really Deserves the Washington Redneck Crown
There is one town that has been crowned the Redneck capital of Washington State since 2015, but this ignored Tri-Cities area town should have really won the crown if you look at the actual numbers.
The Most Redneck Parts of Washington State
There is one town in Washington that has been crowned the most redneck since 2015, but I think they don't deserve it. I grew up in the country in Washington working on farms, haying, butchering cows, and driving trucks for most of my adolescence. If there was a person qualified to define what redneck in Washington was, it is me. I have lived poor, in a trailer, and in the country for a large part of my life. I started thinking about this question after a local Facebook group was recently conversing about this topic and one nearby Tri-Cities town kept coming up in the comments section. Does it deserve to be on the list?
Tri-Cities Discusses the Most Redneck Parts of Washington
There have been multiple towns in our state that have the redneck label, but which one do you think is the most redneck of all? In a local Facebook group, "You Know You're From the Tri-Cities When", a picture was posted of people resembling rednecks with a question asking where people thought they were from? In other words, they were asking where the most redneck part of Washington was. There was one town that kept coming up over and over in the comment section and I bet you can guess what it is. Although for some reason state-wide this town does not get it's due and was left off the 2015 list.
Road Snacks Crowns Chelan as Redneck Crown in 2015
The only article I could find with actual data trying to settle this topic is from Road Snacks which was published in 2015. They claim that Chelan is the most redneck town in Washington after getting number one in multiple categories like the number of bars per city, the number of mobile home parks per capita, the rate of high school graduates, the number of guns and ammo stores per city, and the number of Walmarts nearby. Chelan ranked number 1 in bars per capita and Walmart ranking according to their list and also scored high on the redneck list with a low 83% high school graduation rate to give it the redneck crown.
Tri-Cities Identifies Local Town as Washington Redneck Headquarters
Surprisingly, I did my own research and found those numbers are not actually correct and a different town might deserve the redneck crown. The town that kept coming up in the conversation in the Facebook group for being the most redneck was Finley, Washington. Out of the 100 comment ideas, over 25 mentioned Finley or Fintucky as the most redneck town in Washington. The funny thing is that if you look and compare Finley to Chelan, the people of Tri-Cities might be right.
Finley VS Chelan for the Redneck Crown
Finley is much larger in population than most people think with 5,858 people reported in the 2020 census. There are at least 3 bars in Finley and 3 Walmarts within a short drive, which is many more than in Chelan. The bars in Chelan are also much more classy than the ones you will find in Finley, but that is just my opinion. Zillah was also put on the Road Snacks list at number 4, which is not even mentioned in the local comments as being a redneck. Zillah also has far lower numbers than Finley in every redneck category. Just ask anyone from around Tri-Cities, which town is more redneck: Finley or Zillah, and you will get Finley every time.
Finley High School Graduation Rate
The graduation rate for Chelan was listed as 83% in the study, but when I did my own research Chelan has an actual high school graduation rate of 95% and is 11 points higher than the Washington State average. Finley on the other hand actually has a high school graduation rate of 85-89% and is ranked in the bottom half of Washington State. That rate has remained flat for Finley over the last 5 years according to Public School Review. There might not be a town on the list that actually scores lower than Finley in this category.
Finley Beats Chelan in Every Redneck Category
If they listed Zillah as #4 and Finley has higher redneck numbers than #1 on the list, Finley has to win the crown. If you're from Finley and are mad at my assessment, relax because I am also a redneck and it is not so bad! Being the most redneck part of Washington is actually a good thing. Embrace the great things that living in the country has taught you and break out those boots every once in a while. Now time to talk to someone about a sign heading into the town...You are Now Entering the Redneck Capital of Washington State. The only suggestion I would have for the residents of Finley is to do something about the high school graduation rate or the redneck label will never go away.