This kind of thing is so fascinating to me, how we make sense of words and sounds, and how that can signify belonging or otherness. 

I've lived in the greater Seattle area for decades now and have yet to hear anyone from outside the region get the name of this town right: Puyallup. Heck, *I* still stumble on it, I think because it's an atypical combination of vowel sounds in English (because of course it isn't of English origin).

I grew up in one of the Massachusetts towns that appear on the map, and the comment you clipped out about the difference between the stress (dialect?) and the rhoticity (accent) is right on. I don't have the classic dropped-r accent—although I can put it on for parties—and it would stand out from my regular speech if I dropped the end r of Worcester, say. But I always stress it the same way all of us Massholes do. 

He’s left out the New England mispronunciation that I take most personally — the tendency for out-of-towners to say “NEW haven” rather than the locally preferred “new HAVEN.” Seems subtle, but imagine how discordant it would be to hear someone call the city “NEW york.” 

I’ve always delighted in the roughed-up fusion of French & Indiginous names in my native upper Midwest like this (ours is CharLOTte tyvm), where Charlevoix (sharlevoy) rubs shoulders with Powamo and Mackinack (said mackinaw)

This is a very local phenomenon, even within a state. Jason's comment about What Cheer blew my mind because I've lived in Iowa most of my life — and once wrote a short story called "What Cheer" — and have never heard it pronounced like that! It reminds me of our neighbor (when I was a kid) saying things like "Djeetyet? Goinintown f'supper" and I'd have no idea what they were talking about.

I grew up not far from Madrid, and I've known a few people (including Iowans) who thought I was lying about the pronunciation. Also Adel (ay-DELL), Ventura (ven-TOOR-uh), and Maquoketa (muh-COKE-it-uh).

Pawtucket also the HQ of Hasbro toys, so it holds a special place in my childhood imagination. My favorite Arkansas mispronunciations: Mount Judea (Mount JUDY), Des Arc (DEZ ark), Monticello (Monti-SELL-o), El Dorado (El Do-RAY-do).

Not knowing an appropriate pronunciation of Pawtucket indicates a possible limerick deficiency as a yoot. 

I love What Cheer, Iowa, so much! I went to college not far from there, and for some reason my intro to anthropology professor once spent a whole class period talking about all the theories of how the town got its name. My favorite (probably apocryphal) one is that an early resident who had recently arrived from Europe asked "what's here?" but it sounded like "what'cheer" in their accent and it somehow stuck.

They need one of these for Kansas. For a start, and near me, there’s- Piqua. Neodesha. El Dorado. Olathe. We get out of state political organizers every cycle and we really need a handout so they don’t look like we dropped them in from Delaware. 

pick-way

knee-oh-desh-ay

el doh-ray-doh (I know 🙄)

oh-lay-thuh 

I grew up in central northern Wisconsin, surrounded by the Chequamegon forest. I have no idea how the Ojibwe pronounce it, but locals said shuh-WAH-muh-gun. I'd be interested in a similar map of Wisconsin and Minnesota.

I briefly lived in Altamonte (AL-tuh-mont) and my dad *still* pronounces it al-tuh-MONT-ee. Florida is full of pronunciation traps like that. It's "mi-AM-ee" for Miami. But if you're driving on Tamiami Trail *in Miami* you'll say "tam-ee-am-ee".  It's the same letters! And the Orlando locals favorite is probably "ki-SEM-ee" instead of the tourist "KIS-em-ee".

In VA the locals say "nor-fik", and non-locals say NOR-folk. If you want to get way subtle, in NC locals emphasize the second syllable of "Nags Head" and say "nags HEAD", where non-locals say it "NAGS head".