Claims That This Texas Town Has the Worst Reputation in the US Are Just Dumb

I'm not sure who is behind this list attempting to tarnish a fine Texas town, but I'm certain they've never been to Texas, let alone this southern Texas city

A website set out to find infamous U.S. towns and cities, ones with questionable reputations. The architects of this list claim to have found the 45 US Cities With The Worst Reputation, it seems to me they may need to look into a PR firm to work on their reps.

This Mickey Mouse, third-rate listicle was compiled by statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Census, and the FBI. It's citing these stats from these sources that have them claiming that McAllen, TX, has one of the worst reputations in the U.S.

Seriously? Wanna talk smack about a Texas town? 

Start with Waco at least. I love ya, Waco, but at least real sketchy things have gone down there in the past, and Americans have heard of it. No American has even heard of McAllen, which is kind of an important part of "having a reputation." Y'all making yourself look dumb.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, McAllen's poverty rate was 25.2% in 2017, whereas Texas as a whole stood at 14.9%. Moreover, McAllen residents have a disproportionally high amount of health problems.

The percentage of adults classified as obese stands at a whopping 38.5% and 21% of the population is diagnosed with diabetes, according to a new Gallup-Healthways poll. To make matters worse, nearly a third of the population lacks healthcare coverage.

This is terrible. This town doesn't have a "bad reputation," it has a health crisis.

I guess the writers missed the list from U.S. News & World Report chronicling the Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2024 and 2025. "The list ranks 150 U.S. cities based on cost of living, desirability, job market, and quality of life. McAllen took #48 in the list highlighting its quality of performance among different major cities in the U.S."

Sit down, Travel.Alot.com, you look really stupid right now.