The 8 Rudest Cities in America
Every n city has a personality. Some feel like that warm neighbor who waves from the porch. Others? More like the driver who cuts you off, blasts music on the subway, and somehow never holds a door open for anyone. Rudeness is hard to pin down, but researchers have been trying anyway, and the results from recent large-scale surveys are genuinely fascinating.
According to Preply’s widely cited 2024 rudeness study, a total of 2,533 survey participants across 46 of ‘s largest cities were asked to recall how often they had experienced fellow residents demonstrating behaviors such as listening to music or watching videos in shared spaces, ignoring strangers, being disrespectful of personal space, and careless driving. The numbers don’t lie. Some cities blew the scale wide open. Others defied every expectation. Let’s dive in.
1. Miami, Florida – The Undisputed Champion of Bad Manners
If there were an Olympic event for public rudeness, Miami would be standing on the podium with a smirk. 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 ‘s largest cities. Miami ranks as the most inconsiderate city in 2024, with a rudeness score of 9.88 – an almost perfect score on a scale measuring bad behavior, putting Miami in a category entirely its own. No other city in the survey came close.
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. Honestly, for a city with world-class beaches and nightlife, that’s a jarring contrast. Locals in Miami, Oakland, and Tucson said people in their city are ruder than those in any other city – meaning even the residents themselves acknowledge the problem. That’s saying something.
2. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Brotherly Love? Not 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. There’s a small silver lining buried in there, though.
Although Philadelphia ranked as the second rudest, the city’s residents have actually gotten kinder since 2022, when they ranked number one. Still, a 9.12 out of 10 is nothing to brag about over a cheesesteak. Although nicknamed the “City of Brotherly Love,” ns typically stereotype Philadelphians as rude, but locals tend to attribute their behavior to a feeling of insularity in the city. Reluctant to incorporate outsiders, many residents have learned to keep to themselves while growing up in a busy city. Let’s be real, that’s a polite way of saying they really don’t want to talk to you.
3. Tampa, Florida – Tourism Boom, Patience Bust
Floridians in Tampa come in as the third-rudest residents in the U.S. The area scored a point lower than Miami, with 8.88 out of 10 points. Two Florida cities in the top three is not a great look for the Sunshine State. Here’s the thing though, there’s an interesting tension at play in Tampa specifically.
Ironically, Tampa’s tourism industry is booming at the same time its residents are earning this reputation. Visit Tampa Bay said 2024 will be a record year for tourism in Hillsborough County, bringing in more than a billion dollars in taxable hotel revenue. The tension between massive visitor numbers and increasingly impatient residents seems to be showing up in how people treat each other every day. Think of it like a crowded theme park where the staff has finally run out of smiles. You can see where this is going.
4. Louisville, Kentucky – Southern Hospitality Gone Sour
Rounding out the top five, Louisville, Kentucky, earned a rudeness score of 8.72 – a notable jump for a city that carries a Southern reputation for hospitality. This one genuinely surprises people. Louisville is a city most ns associate with bourbon, horse racing, and good-natured Southern friendliness. The data tells a completely different story.
Louisville, Kentucky, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Austin, Texas, all placed at least five spots higher in the rude rankings than they did in 2022, which means things are getting worse, not better, for the Derby City. A report in the New York Post noted that Louisville residents are among the rudest in the nation, even more so than they were in 2022. Nearly one in four ns have considered moving somewhere else due to people’s rude behaviors in their city. The poll also highlighted that politics is playing a role in rudeness, with roughly half of ns reporting that their cities have become more rude ahead of the 2024 election.
5. Oakland, California – Where Even the Locals Admit It
Rounding out the top five, Oakland, California, scored a rudeness rating of 8.67. Oakland is a city with a fierce creative culture, a devoted community, and real grit. That makes this ranking sting even more. 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.
In 2024, lack of care for others, being loud in shared spaces, and lack of self-awareness were the most common rude actions that people noticed in public. 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. Oakland scored high across those categories, which is hard to spin positively.
6. Boston, Massachusetts – Cold as the Weather
Boston, Massachusetts, earned a rudeness score of 8.35, landing it solidly in the top ten. Bostonians have long had a reputation for being blunt to the point of bruising. Some locals call it directness. Most visitors just call it rude. It’s hard to say for sure whether that cultural edge is truly rudeness or just a very different communication style, but the numbers suggest it goes beyond tone.
The cities considered the least friendly include Philadelphia, Seattle, and Boston, according to a separate Preply survey focused on friendliness. Boston appears on both lists regularly, which means this isn’t a fluke. In general, people are aware of rude behaviors throughout the country that skew their perception of ns as a whole. On average, when asked to rank their city’s residents’ behavior on a scale of 0 to 10, locals ranked their city as 4.9 – Boston clearly tilted that average upward.
7. Memphis, Tennessee – An Unexpected Entry From the South
Memphis, Tennessee, received a rudeness score of 8.28, placing it firmly in the top ten. Memphis surprises a lot of people on this list. It’s a city known for its soul music, barbecue, and deep cultural roots. Yet the social experience on the street apparently doesn’t always match the warmth of the city’s reputation.
Memphis ranked highest in five common rude behaviors, the most of any city in an earlier Preply survey from 2022. That trend appears to have continued into the 2024 data. The data suggests people in the U.S. have gotten more rude – or at least have started noticing more disrespectful behaviors – in recent years. Memphis seems to be caught up in that broader national drift, which is genuinely disappointing for a city with so much warmth baked into its identity.
8. Las Vegas, Nevada – What Happens in Vegas, Stays Rude
Las Vegas, Nevada, scored a rudeness rating of 8.21 in Preply’s 2024 study. Honestly, is anyone shocked? Las Vegas is a city built almost entirely on transient crowds, high-stakes tension, and an atmosphere that encourages people to leave their manners at the door. The city is a fascinating case because much of the rudeness may be imported rather than homegrown.
While various factors can impact social behaviors, with the upcoming presidential election, roughly half of ns said their city’s residents had become more rude. Las Vegas likely absorbed that national tension more intensely than most. It’s important to note that perceptions of what’s rude vary by cultures and individual preferences. For example, the researchers considered “closed off body language” an indicator of disrespect, but some may not view it as a big deal. In Vegas, though, the data paints a pretty consistent picture.
