Some cities will charm you the moment you step off the plane. Others? You’ll be honked at before you’ve even found your luggage. America is a huge, wonderfully messy, culturally rich country – and how people treat each other varies wildly depending on where you happen to land. Honestly, some of these rankings will surprise you. Others will confirm every suspicion you ever had.
In July 2024, a total of 2,533 survey participants across 46 of America’s largest cities were asked to recall how often they had experienced fellow residents demonstrating behaviors such as listening to music in shared spaces, ignoring strangers, being disrespectful of personal space, and careless driving. The study, conducted by language learning platform Preply, produced a rudeness score on a scale from zero to ten. The results were, let’s just say, illuminating. So let’s dive in.
1. Miami, Florida – The Rudest City in America
If rudeness had a trophy, Miami would need a bigger shelf. Miami ranks as the most inconsiderate city in 2024, with a rudeness score of 9.88 out of 10. That’s not just a high number – that’s almost a perfect score on a scale measuring bad public behavior, and it places Miami in a category entirely its own among American cities.
A recent survey from Preply.com revealed Miami, Florida, to be the “rudest” city in the U.S. based on responses from participants in 46 of America’s largest cities. Lack of awareness in public, loudness in shared places, and rudeness to service staff members are just some of the behaviors that branded Miami as having the rudest residents. Think of it like this: if American cities were dinner parties, Miami would be the guest who shows up late, talks over everyone, and leaves without saying goodbye.
2. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – The City of Brotherly… What Exactly?
Philadelphia calls itself the “City of Brotherly Love,” which, given the data, might be the most ironic city nickname in the country. Philadelphia, deemed in the 2022 survey to be the rudest city, earned a score of 9.12 in 2024, putting it in second place. So technically, Philly has improved. That’s the good news.
Although Philadelphia ranked as the second rudest, the city’s residents have actually gotten kinder since 2022, when they ranked number one. Although Americans typically stereotype Philadelphians as rude, locals tend to attribute their behavior to a feeling of insularity in the city – many residents have learned to keep to themselves while growing up in a busy urban environment. It’s a grudging kind of progress, but progress nonetheless.
3. Tampa, Florida – Florida Strikes Again
Florida managed to place two cities in the top three rudest in America, which is quite the achievement. Floridians in Tampa come in as the third-rudest residents in the U.S., with an area score of 8.88 out of 10 points. That’s a whisker behind Philadelphia, and a full Florida-sized problem for a city that markets itself as a sunny, welcoming destination.
To determine the rankings, Preply surveyed residents about social behaviors they noticed in their city and calculated a city rudeness score based on the answers. The most common rude behaviors that Americans exhibited overall included a lack of self-awareness, talking on speakerphone in a shared space, being loud in shared spaces, lack of care for others, not acknowledging strangers, and closed-off body language. Tampa checked nearly all of those boxes consistently.
4. Louisville, Kentucky – A Southern Surprise
Here’s where things get interesting and a little uncomfortable for those who cling to the idea of Southern hospitality. Louisville, Kentucky rounded out the top five with a rudeness score of 8.72 – a notable jump for a city that carries a Southern reputation for hospitality. The Derby City is known for horses and bourbon, not bad manners. The data says otherwise.
Louisville, Charlotte, and Austin all ranked at least five spots higher on the rudest cities list than they did two years ago. That means this isn’t a fluke – things have genuinely gotten worse in Louisville over a relatively short period. With the upcoming election period, roughly half of Americans believed residents of their city had become more rude, and Louisville seems to have felt that shift more than most.
5. Oakland, California – Self-Aware About It
What sets Oakland apart from others on this list is a striking level of self-awareness about the problem. Locals in Miami, Oakland, and Tucson said people in their city are ruder than those in any other city – meaning Oakland’s own residents were among the first to point the finger at themselves. Oakland rounded out the top five on the rudeness scale with a score of 8.67.
Oakland’s own people are pointing fingers at each other, which tells you something about how the daily social experience feels on the ground there. It’s a city with real passion and culture, but the survey data is clear: the day-to-day public behavior is leaving a lot to be desired. Oakland has an undeniably rich cultural identity – but apparently, civility hasn’t kept pace.
6. Charlotte, North Carolina – A Rapid Fall from Grace
Charlotte’s entry on this list is particularly jarring because the city has simultaneously appeared on “friendliest” lists and “rudest” lists in recent years, depending on which survey you consult. Charlotte was found to be the 10th rudest city with an 8.11 score out of 10 on rudeness. In 2022, Charlotte ranked 15th with a much lower rudeness score of 5.02. That is a significant, eyebrow-raising leap in the wrong direction.
Betway reports that Charlotte is toward the top of a “friendliest” list because of what it says is Charlotte’s strong sense of community, Southern hospitality, and dedication to giving back through charitable organizations. So the picture is genuinely mixed. The same study found that roughly a third of Charlotte residents volunteer their time and more than half donate to charity. It’s a city at war with itself, apparently.
7. New York City, New York – The Notorious Champion of Rude Reputations
New York is basically the patron saint of rude city reputations, even if the most recent Preply data tells a more nuanced story. New York City was voted by roughly a third of respondents as the city with the rudest citizens in a separate Business Insider and SurveyMonkey survey of more than 2,000 American adults. That perception has stuck to the city like subway gum for decades.
Surprisingly, New York City didn’t even place in the top ten rudest cities in Preply’s 2024 study. Yet the reputation endures, built on years of crowded streets, brusque interactions, and a lifestyle that rewards moving fast over stopping to chat. The most common rude behaviors Americans report witnessing are lack of care for others, being loud in shared spaces, and lack of self-awareness – and the older a person is, the more likely they are to think transplants to their city are ruder than natives.
8. Chicago, Illinois – Trending in the Wrong Direction
Chicago ranked one spot higher on the rudest cities list in 2024 compared to 2022, joining Louisville, Charlotte, and Austin as cities that have trended toward more rudeness over that period. It’s a subtle shift, but a notable one for a city that prides itself on Midwestern warmth and the famous “Chicago hospitality.” The Windy City’s social temperature, it seems, is cooling.
Nearly one in four Americans have considered moving somewhere else due to people’s rude behaviors in their city – and Chicago residents are feeling that tension more than they did just a couple of years ago. The data suggests people in the U.S. have gotten more rude – or at least have started noticing more disrespectful behaviors – in recent years. Chicago is not alone in this, but it’s moving in a direction its residents might want to reverse.
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