People have New Yorkers pegged all wrong. We’re not rude, we’re just blunt. No for real, there’s even data to back it!
According to a new study from Preply, an online language learning program, New York City didn’t even make the top 10 rudest cities in America. Stealing the top spot as the rudest city in the United States is actually Miami, Florida.
Using research from their 2022 study and information from a dozen new cities, Preply relied on the perceptions of citizens from each city surveyed to help create their very own rudeness score out of 10, and ultimately, rudeness ranking. Questions such as how often a resident of a city sees another behave rudely or how they view transplants vs natives were just some ways Preply gauged their ranking.
The top 5 rudest cities in the U.S.
- Miami, FL (9.88)
- Philadelphia, PA (9.12)
- Tampa, FL (8.88)
- Louisville, KY (8.72)
- Oakland, CA (8.67)
According to locals, the most common acts of rude behavior include lack of self-awareness, talking on speaker in public, being loud in communal spaces, watching videos or listening to loud music in shared spaces, and lack of care for others.
Interesting enough, data from 2022 actually ranked NYC as the third rudest city in the U.S. Therefore, over the past two years it seems we’ve become more polite. The updated 2024 data ranks NYC as the 21st rudest city, so we’ll consider that some fantastic personal growth!
Preply also inquired how Americans react to the aforementioned rude behavior, with 88.43% saying they ignore it, 50.77% leave the area and 11.49% confront the person.
On the flip side, the least rude cities in the U.S. include Omaha, NE, Minneapolis, MN, San Diego, CA, Columbus, OH, and Kansas City, MO. You can explore the full study and rankings of the rudest and least rude cities in the U.S. here.