“Nobody Lives There”: 30 Americans Reveal The Most Brutal And Hilarious Stereotypes They Hold About Each State
You could easily live in the US for your entire life and never set foot in all 50 states. In fact, the average American has only been to 17 of them. So it’s understandable that stereotypes spread like wildfire across the land of the free and the home of the brave.
One curious Reddit user from England reached out asking Americans to share the stereotypes that they associate with each state, and they did not hold back. So below, you'll find some of their most amusing and brutally honest responses, as well as a conversation between Bored Panda and King Siu, a writer for Solo Traveler. If you're an American panda, feel free to upvote the replies you agree with or set the record straight about what your state is really like, and enjoy hearing what your fellow countrymen think of you!
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Alabama is incestuous bible-thumpin' rednecks.
Alaska is wild frontiersman.
Arkansas is obese small town folk who live in Walmart.
Arizona is retired Californian baby boomers.
California is weed-smoking surfer movie star tech bro commie valley girls.
Colorado are mountain Californians with somehow even more weed.
Connecticut is elitist yuppies.
Delaware is... I don't even know. Car dealerships and ticket attorneys?
Florida is retired East Coasters with a special blend of crazy.
Georgia is southern belles and rappers.
Hawaii is surfers with leis.
Idaho is potato-growing country bumpkins.
Illinois doesn't really have any stereotypes. It's one of the most average states. Lots of corn here.
Indiana is s***tier Illinois. Oh, and corn.
Iowa is corn.
Kansas is more corn.
Kentucky is horse riders and rednecks.
Louisiana are Cajun and Creole priests, chefs and witch doctors.
Maine are flannel wearing lobstermen.
Maryland are politicians and gangsters, I guess.
Massachusetts all go to Irish pubs to catch a sports games and eat clam chowder while jerking each other off about New York.
Michigan is an apocalyptic wasteland.
Minnesotans are overly kind and have goofy accents.
Mississippi are bible-thumpin' rednecks, with less incest than Alabama but somehow more poverty.
Missouri is half delicious barbecue and half methheads strung out in trailer parks.
Montana is mostly grizzly bears.
Nebraska is more corn.
Nevada is godless gamblers and strippers.
New Hampshire is libertarians.
New Jersey is sunburnt mobsters.
New Mexico is chili-slurping aliens, of both varieties.
New York is gangsters and wall street execs who are rude, impatient and think they are the center of the universe.
North Carolina are overly gracious but a little dumb southern folk.
North Dakota is empty.
Ohio is pretty average. Read: Illinois.
Oklahoma is corn with an extra dose of rednecks.
Oregon is hipsters and socialists.
Pennsylvania is pretty average. Read: Illinois and Ohio. They have the Amish I guess?
Rhode Island are often forgotten yuppies.
South Carolina is North Carolina and Florida's inbred child.
South Dakota is empty.
Tennessee is country and blues musicians.
Texas is gun wielding pastors and cowboys who love their state a little *too* much.
Utah is Mormons.
Vermont is rich socialists. Odd, I know.
Virginia is also pretty average. Read: Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Washington is Oregon's slightly saner and even rainier (heh) cousin.
West Virginia is inbred hillbillies and miners.
Wisconsin is cheese and beer.
Wyoming is empty.
To gain some more insight on the stereotypes that American states are often saddled with, we reached out to King Siu, a writer for Solo Traveler who was kind enough to have a chat with us. First, he shared some of the most popular stereotypes he's familiar with. "Everyone in California is glamorous, surfs, and works in movies or in tech; everyone in Texas is a cowboy who is a conservative, loves guns, and BBQ, and probably works in the oil industry; people in New York live fast-paced lifestyles, work in finance, and spend their weekends in the Hamptons; New Jersey is full of mobsters; that Florida man stories are an accurate representation of most Floridians; that everyone who lives in Louisiana is uneducated and lives in the swamp; and everyone in Colorado snowboards and smokes weed," he told Bored Panda.
But King was quick to point out that we shouldn't be believing these stereotypes. "There are way too many people in each state for any of the stereotypes to be true of the majority of the people there. It’s hard enough deciding on a restaurant to go to with a group of friends, so imagine now how unlikely it would be for millions of people in one place to decide to be exactly the same."
I’m kind of upset that only 2 people mentioned Alaska. We’re a f*****g state too, you pricks. And bigger than Texas to boot.
I've lived in Houston, Chicago, and New Haven, and done a lot of work in rural Texas and throughout Louisiana. I will avoid talking much about the west coast, because I know less about it.
Most of the differences are small. Houston is going to be more like Chicago than either one is like Bloomington or Beaumont. That said, there are a few.
People in the South are generally a bit more okay with "it happens when it happens" where people in the North want things to happen on time.
The South and Midwest care a lot about college sports. The North and West Coast do not.
The South will tell you their food is better than everybody else. This can be contentious, but is generally regarded as true.
The North is slightly more direct in its communication style, where the South and Midwest focus a bit more on politeness.
The North puts a bigger focus on educational prestige and ranking colleges. In the South and Midwest, your state's public university is basically as good as Harvard as far as employers are concerned.
The racism is very different. If you live in the South, you know Black people, where I've met a surprisingly large number of people in Chicago and the Northeast who have never had a personal relationship with anybody from another racial group. So you're more likely to hear something outright hateful from an old southerner, but you hear a lot more mundane but frustrating ignorance in the North.
The South is poorer. It just is. Especially if you take out Texas, Nashville, and suburban Atlanta, it gets really noticeable really fast.
It’s all relative in West Virginia!
We also asked King if he wanted to dispel any common misconceptions about the United States. "Americans are generally portrayed as unfriendly and rude, and this is not fair at all," he shared. "Americans are generally some of the friendliest people you’ll meet, and I’m saying this as a Canadian. I think they are often a bit more outspoken than others, which makes them stand out when they are abroad, and perhaps that’s why they get this stereotype. Of course, there are some who are unfriendly and rude, but I’ve found them to be the exception to the rule."
People from Texas, REALLY LOVE being from Texas.
People from the Midwest are nice
People from Minesota are really nice
New Yorkers are rude
People from New Jersey are extremely rude
im from texas and let me tell you, it sucks A$$ here its so hot rn...
Ha, you should try visiting San Francisco. We are experts at layering because we have so many different microclimates. You can go from sunny to foggy to chilly all within a few miles or even in the same spot depending on the time of day.
People who think SF is “sunny California” will be in for a shock….
As a native Texan, I lived in Alaska for a few years (loved it), then moved to Southern California. I got colder there than in AK. Nearly froze in San Francisco! Finally came home to thaw out and embrace my allergies.
King also took the chance to defend a few states who are unfairly stereotyped particularly often. "Florida does seem to get more attention than most as the poster child for people behaving strangely," he told Bored Panda. "Believe it or not, most Floridians are relatively normal people who don’t do crazy things."
He also pointed out some regions that deserve more hype. "New Mexico is often overlooked by tourists in favor of its more popular neighbors, such as Colorado and Arizona," King noted. "However, New Mexico is home to a rich history, culture, and natural beauty. Montana is probably another that was overlooked until more recently, thanks to the popularity of the show Yellowstone. Most probably think of California when they think of American wine, but there are also many great wineries in the Finger Lakes region of New York state."
Wisconsin is very drunk. Not an unfounded stereotype, our drinking culture is pretty out of control and there's been data that shows we have more bars than grocery stores that I'm too lazy to find.
I'm from MA. People assume we're either tweed-wearing college professors, bank robbing townies, or literal cod fishermen.
King also noted that it's important to visit the US, or to travel around it, to form your own opinions about these states. "Do not forget that the US is a huge country, and every state has its own unique personality," he pointed out. "The differences might take the form of cuisines, accents, lifestyles, etc., and it’s the combination of those that makes each state fun. In fact, each state can be so different that it feels like you’re in another country. Just as it wouldn’t be fair to lump everyone in Europe together, it wouldn’t make sense to do that to Americans."
"Americans should definitely travel to other states to learn more about their own country, and discover how they are all the same, but different. More importantly, Americans should travel outside of the US," King continued. "Most never do, and it's unfortunate that they’re missing out on learning about other cultures."
Connecticut, when remebered, is believed to be populated by wealthy preps wearing pearl necklaces. Only true in small parts of the state - we have the largest income discrepancy in America!
Far southern tends to display acute allergic reactions to a little snow, while Maine and Michigan say “bro, this is still swimsuit weather!”
"People generally accuse New Yorkers of thinking that they are the center of the universe," King went on to note. "Okay, this one might have some merit, but only applies to those in New York City. To be fair, it’s really that their pride in the city sometimes comes across as a superiority complex. I mean, New York City is pretty spectacular, so it would be hard not to be proud of it if you lived there. The truth of the matter is that New Yorkers are some of the friendliest, most down-to-Earth people around, so don’t be afraid to start a random conversation with them the next time you’re in New York City. I promise it’ll likely go well…"
If you'd like to learn more about some of the best travel destinations around the United States and beyond, be sure to visit Solo Traveler's site right here!
Ma**holes are usually terrible drivers, obnoxious sports fans (but not like european hooligans), yet more than likely have some type of higher-level education.
Source: Am Ma**hole
St. Louis is basically Connecticut. Half of it’s fancy suburb and half of it’s 3rd world ghetto. Southeast Missouri’s where you go to get [drugs]. Springfield-Branson area’s an evangelical Mecca. And Brad Pitt. All of the north and northwest, even KC, is fairly boring. Columbia’s an average college town.
Meth. Not drugs. Meth. Missouri is meth capital. Oh, don't forget, St. Louis is also random shooting capital of the US too.
Arizona- We are actually cactus cat-fishing everyone, pretending we're people.
California people are all sun-baked, laid back, and have nasally voices (especially SoCal).
The deep south has two different stereotypes, the typical redneck and the classy, overly polite, gracious southerner.
New Yorkers are always in a rush, rude, crass, high-strung.
New Jersey are all rude and trashy, with bad tans and a grudge against New York.
Minnesotans are the most genuinely nice people ever, with adorable accents to match.
Ohio is stereotypically bland, middle America with nothing special.
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is full of gun-toting, flannel wearing lunatics (same with Maine).
Washingtonians are flannel wearing introverts with an obsession with Starbucks.
Texas is...Texas.
Florida is a land of wife-beater wearing, alligator f*****g madlads.
Vermonters are hill commies.
New Hampshirites are libertarian Vermonters.
Etc, etc.
Californians aren't all sun-baked any more. We're not stupid. Very few of us roast in the sun any more XD The beach is for tourists!
Well, we pretend people from the center part of our state don’t even exist
As a tourist, I find southerners far far more welcoming. Especially Texans. I f***ing love you guys
People in the South are waaaay more into high school football than anywhere else.
Does South Carolina even have stereotypes that do not apply to other Southern states?
Anyway, here go:
New York: There’s only NYC and the rest of the state. Those from the city are quite proud of it and might rival Texans, but the rest of the state hate that NYC is so influential and they get brushed aside.
Florida: Florida Man fighting gators.
Loiusiana: Secretly cheese eating surrender monkeys.
Texas: Everything is bigger there.
California: Rich people with tans and all surfers. Super liberal.
Wyoming: Nobody lives there
Utah: Mormons. Lots and lots of Mormons.
Oklahoma: Wannabe Southerners.
West Virginia: Mountains and moonshiners. Like Virginia, but to the west.
Kansas: flat plains, wind turbines and buffalo.
Missouri: Not as flat and boring as Kansas but still somehow nothing to do. It’s called Misery for a reason.
Mississippi: They have a river named after their state.
New Mexico: Like Mexico but new.
Illinois: Hey, it’s more than just Chicago.
Minnesota: Scandinavians, wannabe Vikings
Michigan: Hockey.
Delaware: What’s Delaware?
Massachusetts: Ma**holes.
New Jersey: Like Jersey, but new. Hate New Yorkers
New Hampshire: Libertarians
Colorado: Potheads, skiers and mountains.
I remember my dad once saw a gator crossing the street in front of my catholic school right at Publix. A gator. At a Publix. In Jacksonville, Florida.
Southerners like far more sugar in their tea.
They also seem not to have good winter coats
California - Pretentious and fake people. Too expensive for people to live so full of homeless people. Best weather in the country, probably the world (especially in Southern California)
Oregon - Tree hugging Hippies
Washington - Rainy and tech companies
Idaho - Where potatoes come from
Nevada - Casinos and hookers
Montana - Not many people, they all have guns and hunt.
Wyoming - No one lives here
Utah - Mormons
Arizona - Desert rednecks
Colorado - 420 blaze it , big mountains
New Mexico - Native Americans and where breaking bad took place
North Dakota - Oil
South Dakota - Mount Rushmore is here. That's all
Nebraska - Where our food is grown
Kansas - Corn fields and home of the most hated church in the country (westboro baptist church)
Oklahoma - Basically Texas but poorer
Texas - Everything is big here, people most proud of their state. Lots of Oil drilling
Minnesota - Basically wealthier Canadians, lots of lakes
Iowa - Our food is also grown here.
Missouri - The name explains itself.
Arkansas - Poverty and where Walmart started
Wisconsin - Where cheese is made. Also home of the green bay packers the smallest city in America with a NFL team by far.
Illinois - Basically Chicago runs the state. Lots of crime and murder here home of some of the worst cities in America with Chicagos south side, and east Saint Louis.
Indiana - Indi 500 racetrack is here. Also Notre Dame
Ohio - Most average state. Take basically any statistic and it'll be about average. Wright brothers were born here (the birthplace of aviation).
Michigan - Big rivalry with Ohio because of football and also territorial disputes. Rivals Illinois with having some of the worst cities in America because Detroit and Flint Michigan. Isn't even able to give its people uncontaminated water after years.
Louisiana - Cajun food, used to be French, lots of voodoo witchcraft stuff and swamps.
Mississippi - Poorest and worst State in the Union, if your State is s**t you say thank god for Mississippi because it's worse.
Alabama - College football has overtaken these poor souls lives
Florida - The more North you go the more South you really go. Rednecks up top and Cubans in Miami. Old people go here to retire and die because it's warm all year long.
Georgia - Home to Atlanta probably the city where most black American culture comes from.
South Carolina - Famous southern drawl (accent). Has good barbecue
North Carolina - Basically South Carolina but less redneck
Virginia - Basically the beginning of the south (technically Maryland is, but not culturally). Big Navy Base here usually has most of our aircraft carriers.
Tennessee - Country Music
Kentucky - People with no teeth, horse racing.
West Virginia - Appalachia and mountains. Lots of poor people.
Washington D.C. not a State but is a big city and should probably be one. People here don't have voter representation. Lots of Museums and where all our politicians live.
Maryland - Technically the South but culturally, the first North Eastern State.
Delaware - Not many people live here but lots of businesses say they do because low taxes.
Pennsylvania - Where the rust belt (Pittsburgh) and the North East (Philadelphia) connect. Home of the first US capital City, Philadelphia. Has good cheese steak sandwiches.
New Jersey - A lot of New York City suburbs are here. A lot of people for being a fairly small State.
New York - Home of the biggest city in the US, New York City a huge financial center. Baseball is popular here. New York City is not the only big city in this state, there are a few other big ones (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany). Also home of the beautiful side of Niagara falls (but the bad view of it)
Connecticut - Where rich New Yorkers move to be close to the City but still away from it.
Rhode Island - Smallest US state. Is not Actually an Island but Islands make up a chunk of the state.
Massachusetts - Home of Plymouth Rock where the pilgrims first landed. Huge amounts of Universities/Colleges here literally over a hundred just around Boston. Has good clam chowder.
Vermont - The most Socialist state, tried to get universal healthcare but abandoned it because they couldn't afford it because their taxes weren't high enough. Where Bernie Sanders is Senator. Also where the US gets maple syrup.
New Hampshire - Doesn't really have a major city, is more of a Boston suburb.
Maine - Mostly forest, known for fishing
Alaska - Lots of oil is drilled here. Very cold.
Hawaii - Most expensive State, year long warm temperature and home of Honolulu probably the most isolated major city in the world.
Hate to tell you that it's too expensive to live ANYWHERE these days, friend, not just California.
As someone who has spent most of their life in the south but also spent a few years in the Midwest I would just add that they are both polite in different ways. People are very kind in both areas but in my experience midwesterners are a bit more reserved and maybe a little more cautious of outsiders. In the south you can strike up a conversation asking for directions and end up invited over for dinner to a strangers house and sent home with leftovers. In the Midwest they will kindly point you in the right direction and wish you well. It was honestly the biggest difference for me when living there, I grew up hugging people I just met, in the Midwest you start with a handshake.
If you make it into a New Englander's house without being someone's +1, there's a chance they'll take a bullet for you.
Can confirm. Bostonian by birth. We're a very tough nut to crack, and we all have thick armor, too. But once you're in - you are one of us forevermore.
Everything between Pittsburgh and Philly is Amish or rednecks. Or Amish rednecks.
People in Alabama sleep with their sisters.
Louisiana is full of people who talk some weird hybrid of French and English that no one else on Earth can understand. Also ghosts. Also bacchanalia.
Florida is full of the wackiest criminals.
California is full of serial [criminals] and surfers. Except LA. Nobody is from LA.
It always rains in Washington state, especially Seattle.
Happy 1998, Oregon! Watch out for that Y2k thing though.
Wisconsin is full of yetis.
New Yorkers are always in a rush, and one of the things they're in the biggest hurry to do is put down people from New Jersey.
New Jersey is full of rich white trash.
To elaborate on the west coast: in California at least, we have a very robust community college system, and in general the emphasis of education has to do with technical specialization, i.e. industry employers favoring schools not because of prestige, but for notable departments or programs. (Though unfortunately this can also lead to industries using excessive technical training as a gatekeeping mechanism, i.e. crazy high training requirements to be a hair dresser.)
True about the community colleges in California - I believe there are more than 20 community colleges within a 20-mile radius of where I live XD The community college I went to is less than 2 miles from where I live.
The Southern states in general (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma): Fat, racist, inbred rednecks who love guns, Jesus, and college football. You can get a little more specific in parts, like West Virginia is full of bizarre mountain folk like in Deliverance, Louisianans are Cajuns, Floridians are insane drug addicts, etc.
New England states in general (Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut): Antisocial, frugal Yankees who can also be pretty arrogant and dismissive of other parts of the country. Decent chunk of the population is irreligious.
California: Surfers, tech-bros, hippies, and fake/shallow people who desperately want to be in show business and have plastic surgery as birthday gifts. They move to other states and ruin them.
Colorado: Weed smoking snowboarders/skiers who hate Californians.
Connecticut: A bunch of rich people. Half of the state is part of New England, the other half was annexed by New York, sport rivalries ensue.
Delaware: Doesn't exist, is actually just a PO box for corporations to place their headquarters, the federal government perpetuates the lie that Delaware is real. Stay woke.
Hawaii: Hula girls, retirees, surfers, and homeless people who were sent from the mainland.
Illinois: Farmers, unless you're from Chicago, then you're a criminal.
Idaho/Indiana/Iowa/Kansas/Nebraska: Yet more farmers.
Maine: Flannel-wearing lobster fishermen, only word they can say is "ayuh".
Maryland: People who eat a s**t-ton of crabs, they really like their flag. If you're from Baltimore, you're a criminal. If you're from outside Baltimore, you're a redneck.
Massachusetts: Either a hyper-intelligent MIT geek, or an Irish-American who won't shut up about how great their sports teams all are. Hates people from New York. Live off of Dunkin' Donuts.
Minnesota/North Dakota/South Dakota: Super friendly Scandanavian-Americans like in "Fargo", can also be super passive-aggressive.
Alaska/Arizona/Missouri/Montana/Nevada/New Mexico/Wyoming: No idea.
New Hampshire: Libertarians who refuse to wear helmets or seatbelts. Hate people from Massachusetts but commute down there for work.
New Jersey: Italian-American mobsters a la Sopranos, big inferiority complex towards New York.
New York (city): Loud and obnoxious people who physically cannot stop talking about "New Yawk" and how amazing it is. Hate people from Massachusetts.
Ohio: Generic, flavorless Middle-America. Sucks and every Ohioan wants to escape it, which is why the Wright Brothers and a bunch of astronauts are from there.
Oregon/Washington: Tech-bros and quirky, crunchy-granola hipsters, see the TV show "Portlandia".
Pennsylvania: If you're from Philly, you're a violent thug. If you're from Pittsburgh, you're a Yinzer. If you're from anywhere in between, you're a Pennsyltucky redneck.
Rhode Island: Most Italian-Americans in the country, big inferiority complex towards Massachusetts, loves drinking "coffee milk". Hate people from Massachusetts.
Texas: Oil-tycoons and cowboys, they love Texas more than America itself, hate Californians.
Utah: Weird Mormons with massive families and magic underwear.
Vermont: Farmers, socialists, retired hippies, all covered in maple syrup.
Michigan/Wisconsin: Dairy farmers with really obnoxious accents. Michigan's upper peninsula is inhabited by a people called "Yoopers" who are a weird mix of Scandinavian American and Canadian.
Funny how all of the California stereotypes are all so similar. Kinda pathetic. Again, LA is NOT California.
Oregonians are super lefty, environmentally conscious and green, spiritual (but not religious, I’m talking new age hippies with their “healing crystals” and “auras” and anti-vaxx and all that b******t) and [REALLY REALLY LIKE WEED.]
Illinois is difficult to define because the north is so different from the south, but maybe you could say northern Illinois (i.e., Chicago and its suburbs) is characterized as a friendly New York (i.e., kind city people), and southern Illinois is thought to be a sort of Greater Missouri (i.e., a tad bit racist and pretty boring but not obnoxiously so). These are just stereotypes, of course.
All of Washington is like Seattle...not
Holy s**t thank god it’s not! Washington is a beautiful state. Seattle is fun for a bit but go see the mountains!
Ohio: They're famous for eating their own boogers.
More astronauts are from Ohio than anywhere else in the US. So bad that they wanted to leave the planet - stereotype I've heard about Ohio.
The biggest thing I've noticed is people don't understand layering. My mom is from Montana and we visit frequently. But have also watched many NYC based sitcoms and picked up on multiple layers characters wear in the winter.
We went to NYC for Christmas one year and I would regularly have a thin long sleeve t-shirt or polo, with a quarter zip or hoodie and then my puffer coat on top
Michigan here...long sleeve tee or thermal, tee, flannel(if it's in single digits) insulated hoodie....good to go.
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I really wish Bored Panda would stop running these types of posts. They aren't funny. They are just mean and nasty, and divide people.
I think it's fun to know what other people think. There doesn't have to be a division or anyone angry if they just take it for what it is, opinions.
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These were a bit more brutal and less hilarious. Also I just read this almost exact same article in Buzzfeed yesterday so it wasn’t really original tbh. How about do another one where it’s the NICEST stereotypes about a given place? It would be a much happier way to start the morning.
I really wish Bored Panda would stop running these types of posts. They aren't funny. They are just mean and nasty, and divide people.
I think it's fun to know what other people think. There doesn't have to be a division or anyone angry if they just take it for what it is, opinions.
Load More Replies... These were a bit more brutal and less hilarious. Also I just read this almost exact same article in Buzzfeed yesterday so it wasn’t really original tbh. How about do another one where it’s the NICEST stereotypes about a given place? It would be a much happier way to start the morning.
