Iowans are proud to be from their small towns. However, most people agree that not all small towns are created equal.

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Last year, we dove into the worst rural town in the Hawkeye State.

By the way, "worst" rural town is somewhat subjective. The Youtuber put together a series of videos of the "worst" rural towns in each state. Each state has it's own corresponding video.

When this guy says "worst" he actually means most affordable.

You can read more about this here.

However, when we say "worst" in this instance, we actually mean THE WORST SMALL TOWN. A publication called Roadsnacks put together a list of the very worst small towns in Iowa.

It was determined based off of several factors: unemployment rates, crime rates, housing costs, high school dropouts, adjusted median income, and population density.

So...what town in Iowa fails in every single one of these categories?

It's a well-known small place called Villisca.

Are we really surprised that the site of an incredibly gruesome murder that captured national attention is at the very top of this list?

The 1912 murders at the home in this small town draw in paranormal investigators more than a hundred years later. This town has become known across the country for these gruesome attacks.

Here is the full list of the top ten worst small towns in Iowa (according to this set of data).

  1. Villisca
  2. Tama
  3. Sac City
  4. Postville
  5. Montezuma
  6. Clarion
  7. Onawa
  8. Toledo
  9. Columbus Junction
  10. Lamoni

As we all know, Iowa is full of even more charming small towns than bad. According to the same publication the very best small town in Iowa is...Atkins.

Make sure to read more stories about the Hawkeye State by downloading the station app. Also, don't forget to follow the station across all of the social media platforms so you can stay up to date

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