September 5, 2024, 9:40 am | Read time: 4 minutes
The language learning platform Preply has named the most unfriendly city in the USA for the second time. A metropolis that is also popular with German tourists came in first place. TRAVELBOOK shows the inglorious front-runners on the list.
Anyone who lives in a (large) city knows that living together in a confined space is often not easy, and ideas of what constitutes good and respectful coexistence in the city often differ due to various factors such as age and the like. Of course, this doesn’t just apply to German and European cities. Especially in the US, social interaction in the country is a particularly exciting topic so close to the elections. These are the most unfriendly cities in the USA, according to a ranking from Preply.
Overview
The most unfriendly cities in the USA – Florida takes the lead
It’s an opportune moment for the self-styled ‘culture enthusiasts’ at the language learning platform Preply to delve once more into Americans’ perceptions of unfriendliness in their hometown interactions. In 2022, the platform took a closer look at 30 cities – this time 46 – and the results may surprise some people.
Miami in Florida secured the inglorious title of the “most unfriendly city in the USA 2024” in the Preply ranking. With a score of 9.88 out of 10 on the unfriendliness scale, the residents surveyed gave a seemingly devastating verdict on their home city. The gap to the following ranks is also clear: Philadelphia in Pennsylvania comes in second place with a score of 9.12, directly behind Tampa, also located in Florida, with a score of 8.88.
With a score of 8.05, Jacksonville – the third city in Florida to be put to the test – was ranked 12th out of 46 in terms of unfriendliness. This suggests that the “Sunshine State” is no longer really all sunshine and rainbows. A more precise analysis based on the available data from Preply is difficult: only Jacksonville was previously analyzed in 2022 – which also landed in 12th place at that time, but with only 30 cities ranked. In addition, Preply does not provide any precise information on how exactly the scores of the respective cities are ultimately made up.
The top 20 most unfriendly cities in the USA at a glance
1. Miami, FL, score 9.88
2. Philadelphia, PA, score 9.12
3. Tampa, FL, score 8.88
4. Louisville, KY, score 8.72
5. Oakland, CA, score 8.67
6. Boston, MA, score 8.35
7. Memphis, TN, score 8.28
8. Las Vegas, NV, score 8.21
9. Long Beach, CA, score 8.18
10. Charlotte, NC, score 8.11
11. Albuquerque, NM, score 8.11
12. Jacksonville, FL, score 8.05
13. Houston, TX, score 8.04
14. San Francisco, CA, score 8.02
15. Tucson, AZ, score 7.98
16. Austin, TX, score 7.97
17. Colorado Springs, CO, score 7.87
18. Dallas, TX, score 7.83
19. Sacramento, CA, score 7.79
20. Baltimore, MD, score 7.79
People from the US rate particularly unfriendly behavior in cities
What is presented, however, is a list of the most common unfriendly factors rated by the Americans surveyed. In the first place, this is simply a “lack of self-awareness”, which 92.18 percent of respondents perceive, according to Preply. Just how subjective the ranking is, is shown by the fact that using the loudspeaker function to make calls also came in first place with 92.18 percent – and this behavior is ultimately probably also simply due to a “lack of self-awareness”.
The top 10 most inappropriate behaviors also include listening to music loudly on a smartphone and letting it ring loudly, as well as things like closed body language and unfriendliness towards service staff. In 12th to 15th place are exclusively inconsiderate behaviors in road traffic – a major issue in the USA, a country of drivers. But apparently Americans are not as direct as many Europeans think: according to Preply, only 11.49 percent of respondents said they would confront troublemakers about their behavior.
However, the survey also provides other exciting results: According to Preply, a quarter of respondents consider their own city to be the most unfriendly in the entire state. However, people also seem to be consistent – as a quarter of those surveyed also stated that they would be prepared to move for this reason. In addition, older people consider younger fellow citizens to be particularly rude – but this ongoing “generational conflict” is probably not a problem specific to the USA or to cities.
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How New York City fares in the rankings
One thing remains to be clarified, however – because you are no doubt wondering where New York City, which many consider to be the world’s most unfriendly city, has ended up in this ranking. And the answer is surprising: with a score of 7.69, the “Big Apple” is in 21st place, which puts it pretty much in the middle of the rankings. On a positive note, Nebraska’s capital, Omaha, rounds out the ranking with the most amiable score of 6.24.