The Geekiest U.S. Cities List: Let’s See Where Rockford Ranks

Before we get to the collective "geeking out" over where Rockford ranks on a list of the geekiest cities in the United States, we should probably take a look at the definition of the word "geek," so we're all on the same geek page together.

According to Wikipedia, geek can be defined thusly:

In current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a generally pejorative meaning of a "peculiar person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, boring, or socially awkward." In the 21st century, it was reclaimed and used by many people, especially members of some fandoms, as a positive term.

I guess it is a positive term now, or why would The Big Bang Theory have made a bazillion dollars for the actors pretending to be geeks?

Now, There's Even A Special Day Set Aside To Take Pride In Your Own Geekiness

And, that day is July 13th, which is now also known as "National Embrace Your Geekiness Day." It's a day in which geeks across America are supposed to take a minute and be proud of the fact that you're a little different, and to show off your vast knowledge of...uh...whatever you have vast knowledge of, I guess.

LawnLove.com, anticipating the overwhelming amount of participation in National Embrace Your Geekiness Day, crunched some numbers and came up with their master list of the America's geekiest cities, and as you may have guessed, Rockford is on that list.

Chicago Is On The List, So Are Naperville, Aurora, And Joliet

Chicago comes in as the 7th geekiest city in America, Naperville ranks 119th, Aurora is #155, and Joliet is 185th.

As for Rockford, we are ranked as the 172nd geekiest city in the nation overall. When it comes to the rest of the country, New York City is tops, followed by Los Angeles in second, Las Vegas in third, Atlanta in fourth, and San Antonio is fifth.

This is what LawnLove.com looked for to make their rankings:

We compared the 200 largest U.S. cities, using metrics like stores selling comics, video games, trading cards, and board games. We also looked at the number of geek Meetup groups, costume shops (for cosplayers), and whether the city has hosted events like Comic-Cons and Renaissance festivals.