When tourists set out on their travels around a country, they frequently look for an inviting atmosphere. One would think that in the U.S., people would have learned to be more tolerant of visitors and even residents, considering a recent estimate indicates that the nation is the third most visited in the world, with 79.3 million tourists arriving there each year.
Nonetheless, according to a recent analysis by Preply.com, certain cities emerged as the rudest when researchers asked locals about social behaviors they observed in their area and computed a city rudeness score based on the responses.
The cities were ranked based on behaviors including a lack of self-awareness, talking on speakerphone in shared spaces, being excessively loud in public areas, watching videos or listening to music without headphones, a general disregard for others, not acknowledging strangers, and being absorbed in phones and ignoring those around them. Exhibiting closed-off body language, disrespecting personal space and hygiene, being impolite to service staff, allowing phones to ring in public instead of muting them, refusing to let others merge while driving, and ignoring basic traffic rules, including not slowing down for pedestrians also topped the list for what makes a person rude.
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Based on these criteria, the rudest cities in the U.S. for 2024 are:
- Miami, Florida
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Tampa, Florida
- Louisville, Kentucky
- Oakland, California
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Long Beach, California
- Charlotte, North Carolina
These findings highlight a concerning trend in which the fast-paced nature of metropolitan living contributes to fewer attentive interactions.
Still, Omaha, Minneapolis, and San Diego are among the top three most polite cities, indicating that a friendly culture can endure. Their inhabitants are living examples of how even the smallest acts of kindness may have a big impact on the overall atmosphere of the community.
