In this study, we surveyed Americans across the country once again to determine if rudeness levels have changed since 2022 when our first study was published. Similar to the original study, we asked a variety of questions regarding the rude behaviors Americans witness in their city. We included everything from residents’ politeness toward strangers and servers to inconsiderate usage of phones in public and more. We then applied scores to responses that indicated a higher frequency of rudeness and calculated the average score for each city. We then adjusted those scores on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 representing the rudest.
In addition to the 30 cities included in the original study, we surveyed 16 new cities. We then analyzed the ranking from 2022 compared to each city’s ranking in 2024 to determine how residents’ behavior has changed.
And here’s a list of cities by how rude they are:
| Rank | City, State | Rudeness Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami, FL | 9.88 |
| 2 | Philadelphia, PA | 9.12 |
| 3 | Tampa, FL | 8.88 |
| 4 | Louisville, KY | 8.72 |
| 5 | Oakland, CA | 8.67 |
| 6 | Boston, MA | 8.35 |
| 7 | Memphis, TN | 8.28 |
| 8 | Las Vegas, NV | 8.21 |
| 9 | Long Beach, CA | 8.18 |
| 10 | Charlotte, NC | 8.11 |
| 11 | Albuquerque, NM | 8.11 |
| 12 | Jacksonville, FL | 8.05 |
| 13 | Houston, TX | 8.04 |
| 14 | San Francisco, CA | 8.02 |
| 15 | Tucson, AZ | 7.98 |
| 16 | Austin, TX | 7.97 |
| 17 | Colorado Springs, CO | 7.87 |
| 18 | Dallas, TX | 7.83 |
| 19 | Sacramento, CA | 7.79 |
| 20 | Baltimore, MD | 7.79 |
| 21 | New York, NY | 7.69 |
| 22 | San Antonio, TX | 7.67 |
| 23 | Atlanta, GA | 7.65 |
| 24 | Chicago, IL | 7.62 |
| 25 | Los Angeles, CA | 7.61 |
| 26 | Phoenix, AZ | 7.59 |
| 27 | Seattle, WA | 7.53 |
| 28 | Virginia Beach, VA | 7.48 |
| 29 | Fort Worth, TX | 7.44 |
| 30 | Detroit, MI | 7.44 |
| 31 | Portland, OR | 7.4 |
| 32 | Aurora, CO | 7.32 |
| 33 | Washington, D.C. | 7.3 |
| 34 | Denver, CO | 7.3 |
| 35 | Tulsa, OK | 7.29 |
| 36 | Nashville, TN | 7.19 |
| 37 | Oklahoma City, OK | 7.11 |
| 38 | Raleigh, NC | 6.98 |
| 39 | San Jose, CA | 6.96 |
| 40 | Indianapolis, IN | 6.93 |
| 41 | Milwaukee, WI | 6.89 |
| 42 | Kansas City, MO | 6.78 |
| 43 | Columbus, OH | 6.7 |
| 44 | San Diego, CA | 6.68 |
| 45 | Minneapolis, MN | 6.35 |
| 46 | Omaha, NE | 6.24 |
The Politest Cities In America
The Most Common Rude Behaviours
The most common rude behaviors Americans witness
| Rank | Behavior | % who witness it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lack of self-awareness | 92.18% |
| 1 | Talking on speakerphone in a shared space | 92.18% |
| 3 | Being loud in shared spaces | 91.59% |
| 3 | Watching videos or listening to music out loud in a shared space | 91.59% |
| 5 | Lack of care for others | 91.20% |
| 6 | Not acknowledging strangers | 88.99% |
| 6 | Being absorbed by phones and not acknowledging others | 88.99% |
| 8 | Closed off body language | 86.54% |
| 9 | Not respecting personal space or hygiene | 85.55% |
| 10 | Impoliteness with service staff members | 81.25% |
| 10 | Allowing a phone to continue ringing in a shared space instead of muting | 81.25% |
| 12 | Not letting others merge in front of them while driving | 73.90% |
| 13 | Driving to the end of a closed lane to merge closer to the front | 70.59% |
| 14 | Ignoring basic rules of the road | 64.63% |
| 15 | Not slowing down or being cautious around pedestrians | 60.76% |
How Americans react when encountering rude people in public
- 88.43% Ignore them
- 50.77% Leave area
- 11.49% Confront them
What do you think? Are these really the rudest cities in America?
Samantha Lloyd says
Albuquerque deserves to be in the top 15! As a long-term resident in Albuquerque, people are the some of the worst types you’ll ever meet here. I, and many other women, do not feel safe doing most types of activites outdoors. There’s a solid reason why there you’ll rarely see any of us taking walks anymore or going out to eat by ourselves. Really just too many creepy men here. Speaking of creepy, like 2/3rds of the folks living here have a staring problem. Lots of people also have nothing but bad things to say about other people too. And no, that is not a personal issue. As a service worker, I hear people put down others ALL THE TIME. And is it really surprising knowing the absurd amount of adversity that happens here? I mean, just look at the news and you can kind of see why people have a hard time being polite here. It’s got to the point where most people are so used to it that they have numbed themselves to it. Which is how the slogan, “this is Albuquerque” manifested. Getting stalked by dozens of creepy guys on a weekly basis while walking to work or you had a heart attack in the park during the afternoon and you’re sad that no one came to help you? Well, most people here pretty much say, “Suck it up buttercup. This is Albuquerque. If you don’t like it, get outta here.” The new slogan should be, “Welcome to Albuquerque. Where no one cares anymore.” This city has no sense of community and you will probably deal with some of the most selfish and careless people on the planet. If you were in acoma, people here wouldn’t even attempt to help you because they would jump to the conclusion that you’re high on drugs or something like that. Building connections, friendships and dating is also needlessly difficult in Albuquerque mainly due to how people behave here. Nightlife is pretty dull and boring if you’re not chronically addicted to alcohol or some taboo drug. Motorists here are so bad that they make motorists in Denver look compitent. See the data for yourself with how terrible the collision rates per capita are here. Albuquerque had so much potential to be a great city but you have to remember that it is in a state that is one of the worst ranked states in education and it shows almost anywhere you go in Albuquerque. Essentially, what I’m saying is the poorly educated and uneducated have held Albuquerque back decades from where it should be.