These Are The Rudest Cities In America, Per U.S. Census Data

In late 2019, a survey of more than 2,000 Americans was conducted, where each participant was asked to choose the five rudest cities in the country. The audience was balanced by U.S. census data of both age and gender.

Based on the responses, the following are the 50 rudest cities in America, ranked from least to most rude. The percentage figure next to each city is the percent of respondents who thought that particular city had the rudest people.

50. Raleigh, North Carolina (1.4%)

In July of 2019, a woman ended up getting banned from a Bonefish Grill seafood restaurant due to her actions. She was recorded in a video complaining about another group of customers, which later went viral.

The transgression in question? The woman recording complained that the other customers dining were too loud. Then, she took things way too far by confronting them with racial epithets, which in turn led to her ejection..

49. Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1.5%)

A thief stole a car and thousands of dollars worth of electronics from a couple’s Milwaukee condo in October of 2019. However, he also had the “courtesy” to remove his shoes and lock up the garage afterward.

On fairness, one could be argued that the burglar was trying to reduce the amount of noise he was making when he removed his shows. Also, a crime may go unnoticed longer if everything seems neat and normal at first glance.

48. Providence, Rhode Island (1.5%)

At a State Committee meeting in Providence, former Senator Stephen Alves got himself into hot water. He had made a comment about women during the committee meeting that was caught on video sometime in November of 2019.

Truth be told, he did have an excuse for this reaction. Alves explained later on that he made the derogatory statements due to being filmed, even after asking the woman who was filming him to stop doing so.

47. Salt Lake City, Utah (1.6%)

In 2018, actor Joseph Morales roasted this city during the tour of Broadway’s Hamilton. During intermission, he posted on Twitter, “SLC, you’re killing me. Put your phones away. We can see you. This isn’t a movie. What is up with you guys?”

In response, a Salt Lake citizen responded with “deal with it.” Evidently, the distraction diverting people’s attention was due toa Utah Jazz playoff game going on at the same time as the production.

46. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota (1.6%)

Back in 2017, a local news outlet reported that an unknown street artist dubbed “Sluto” wrote a mean message out in the open for all to see. It wasn’t aimed at a specific person or group, just the denizens of the metro area.

The rude message tagged across the ground read that all the residents of the city were “all so…boring.” Allegedly there was also some profanity involved, but it has been left out for obvious reasons.

45. Richmond, Virginia (1.6%)

Here’s a fun fact that you may not know: it has been illegal to swear in public in Richmond, VA ever since 1860. In fact, if somebody breaks the law against profanity, they could be subject to a fine of $250!

Fortunately, for all those who swear like a sailor, delegate Michael Webert wants to change the law because he thinks it limits free speech. However, he hasn’t had any luck with removing the ban thus far.

44. Denver, Colorado (1.7%)

For the record, the following statement is just one man’s opinion. Patrick Mims, a longtime Denver, CO resident, wrote up a piece in May 2019 that was published for all of his neighbors to see.

He claimed that one of the biggest issues is that the “chill spots” and concerts in Denver are overpopulated with rude people. He continued to write that the “caliber” of people moving to the city was low.

43. Phoenix, Arizona (1.8%)

This definitely happens in a lot of places other than just Phoenix, but this story gained traction online. A local was fed up with someone allowing a dog to poop on his lawn and then leaving it there.

As a result, he recorded a video of the incident and posted it publically online in 2017. Another dog owner commented in support, exclaiming that she hoped the public shaming embarrassed the messy culprit.

42. Virginia Beach, Virginia (1.9%)

One Virginia Beach, VA lawyer was punished for being rude and crude on several occasions way back in 2015. The best part is that all of the offending comments were made in regards to court cases.

Among other comments, John Crandley claimed that what another lawyer had stated was “nonsense” and “baloney.” He went to jail twice for his courtroom antics, and earned had to be disciplined a third time.

41. Riverside, California (2.1%)

Councilman Mike Soubirous explained that he had received a lot of complaints from residents regarding parking. The city’s street space was being taken up by people who lived in nearby apartment complexes.

In response, he had some suggestions for the disgruntled neighbors. One of them was rather than parking on the driveway or in the garage, park on the street and block the other people from parking there.

40. Orlando, Florida (2.2%)

Who knew that writing a bad review for a restaurant could lead to a house being shot at? After Monica Walley’s disabled mother was denied service at a restaurant on her birthday, the disgruntled daughter petitioned against the business.

Afterwards, the restaurant owner’s son, Michael Johnson, was understandably mad about the damage the campaign was doing. So, he drove over to the Walley’s residence and started to shoot at it.

39. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (2.3%)

In January of 2019, the way the Fire Department handled emergency calls was deemed rude. However, Benny Fulkerson, the Public Information Officer for the Fire Department, claimed the tone used by dispatchers was necessary.

He had some expertise as he was once a dispatcher himself in the past. He claimed that “There are times that… [it’s] necessary and required to be curt because you have to move that 911 call along.”

38. San Antonio, Texas (2.3%)

At a Spurs basketball game in 2018, a couple was annoyed when the people in front of them kept standing up and took things a step too far. The other fans filmed the couple making derogatory remarks in a video that went viral.

After the video leaked online, the couple vehemently apologized for the outburst and altercation. They claimed that they had started to receive violent threats online as the video made the rounds.

37. Louisville, Kentucky (2.3%)

TV reporter Sara Rivest was kissed on the cheek without permission while the camera was rolling in September of 2019. Eventually, the police charged the offending man with harassment with physical contact.

Rivest acknowledged that the kiss was “not appropriate,” but got right back to reporting. As she signed off, anchor John Boel asked if she was alright and Rivest replied that she “might need some help.”

36. Memphis, Tennessee (2.4%)

A Memphis nail salon was criticized for being discriminatory in 2017. It displayed a sign that said if a customer was overweight, they’d have to pay $45 for a pedicure, which were usually only up to $30.

The increase was supposedly due to “service fees.” When a reporter visited the store and asked about the meaning behind the sign, the owner said it wasn’t from his business, although he had considered it before.

35. New Orleans, Louisiana (2.5%)

Back in 2018, State Representative Neil Abramson was rather upset about the TV show NCIS: New Orleans. At the time, the popular prime time crime drama was filming a new episode in his neighborhood.

He claimed the production crew yelled at a child, set up loud generators without notice, and banged into trees. Calling for rules to be changed around production planning, Abramson said it was about “convenience and respect.”

34. Portland, Oregon (2.6%)

Editor Robert Ham once wrote a controversial opinion piece for the local newspaper. In it, he stated that the baristas and bartenders across the city of Portland, OR were much too rude for his liking.

In the Portland Mercury, he asked for “Some pleasantries. A reasonable amount of small talk.” He made some other comments, too, but there was quite a bit of bad language involved in the critical write up.

33. Nashville, Tennessee (2.7%)

Land developers were cold-texting homeowners all across the Nashville area in July of 2019. The text messages received asked unlucky recipients if they wanted to sell their properties to the developers.

One resident claimed she was getting five text messages each day regarding selling her land. Another woman had a clueless developer ask if her deceased father was interested in selling for a quick profit.

32. Kansas City, Missouri (2.7%)

A group of locals was accused of being disrespectful in November of 2019. According to records, they had entered a church to silently protest a road being renamed to honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The disappointed protesters wanted the name to be changed back to what it was originally. Those who were already situated in the church during the protest wanted the new Martin Luther King Jr. name to remain.

31. Columbus, Ohio (2.7%)

In 2018, contractor Jeffrey Whitman made a racial comment aimed at Charles Lovett while the two were in the midst of a traffic disagreement. He took the altercation a step further when he followed Lovett home and insulted him.

Lovett recorded a portion of the disturbing event and rightly told him that his behavior was totally unacceptable. The video went viral, and shortly afterward Whitman apologized in full for his outburst.

30. St. Louis, Missouri (2.7%)

Nordstrom’s management issued apologies to a group of teens who claimed they were racially profiled by employees at a store back in 2018. The employees involved had gone so far as to call the police on them.

However, the officers found they were innocent. After hearing the apology, one of the teens was quoted as saying, “I want them to teach them and make this a teaching moment and everybody move forward and get better.”

29. San Jose, California (2.9%)

A gas station employee in San Jose yelled at Grecya Moran for speaking in Spanish with the other cashier in April of 2019. To make matters worse, Moran had her toddler son with her at the time of the incident.

The employee went so far as to claim that Moran wasn’t an American citizen, even though she was. So, it should come as no surprise to learn that the employee was swiftly terminated from his position.

28. Seattle, Washington (3.1%)

In another event that occurred in April of 2019, a video showed Seattle city council members on their phones as an older man presented to them. The politicians received a slew of emails condemning their behavior.

The emails came from other cities across the globe. It should be noted that the presenting man was also not speaking about anything on the agenda and showed up regularly to complain, so perhaps both parties were guilty of being rude.

27. Indianapolis, Indiana (3.1%)

A controversial sign was placed by one angry citizen calling out the residents of Indianapolis for littering in March of 2019. The sign was short, sweet, and to the point reading that “we love litter.”

Littering has long been a problem in the area, but this sign may have played a part in getting people to clean up their act. Keep Indianapolis Beautiful reported that it had collected more than one million pounds of litter in 2018.

26. Hartford, Connecticut (3.2%)

Hartford, like Salt Lake City from earlier, also has problems with people disrupting theater performances with their phones. Ushers at Hartford Stage theater are instructed to be polite, but firm with these types of people.

Margie Glick, the patron services manager of one theater, teaches the ushers how to deal with the situation. She said people are usually nice once they realized they were being rude, so at least there’s that.

25. Charlotte, North Carolina (3.3%)

There were two different outrageous incidents involving customer receipts at Smoothie King restaurant locations in Charlotte, NC. Both of the incidents occurred sometime in 2019 and quickly went viral.

One customer received his receipt with a racist word on it, while the other customer found the name of an Asian actor on his receipt instead of his own. Smoothie King fired the employees and noted that staff would undergo sensitivity training.

24. Cincinnati, Ohio (3.5%)

Debra Cruise-Gulyas was pulled over by a police officer in 2017, after which she decided to make a rude hand gesture as she drove away. The officer promptly pulled her over again and increased the fine.

In court, Cruise-Gulyas argued that pulling her over for a second time was a violation of her constitutional rights and freedom of expression. She ended up winning the case, as the court ruled in her favor.

23. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (3.5%)

In this particular case, it very well might be the visitors who are rude as opposed to the fine citizens of Pittsburgh, PA. Whatever the case, TripAdvisor reviews cast a rather bad light on this city.

Sadly, Pittsburgh’s most famous landmarks have been called a variety of negative things on online reviews. In addition, the citizens of the city have been generally labeled as “miserable people.”

22. San Diego, California (3.5%)

San Diego is another supposedly rude city, according to one angry resident brave enough to write and publish an opinion piece on the matter. Stuart Cardwell aired his grievances for the San Diego Reader in 2016.

He explained that a local college professor told him rudeness could be blamed on a variety of things, such as the gold rush, the Dust Bowl migration and the idea of manifest destiny. That sounds like a “college professor” thing to say.

21. Sacramento, California (3.8%)

The Sacramento Bee published yet another critical opinion piece of its own city in December of 2019. This one was written by Marcos Breton and it described how one could tell if somebody was from Sacramento.

One thing to look for, according to him, is “everything – food, bike lanes, public art – is political.” He also wrote that locals are known “to rat out our neighbors for watering their sidewalks in a drought.”

20. Tampa, Florida (4.0%)

Jenn Bethune brought her service dog to Disney World sometime in September of 2019. Unfortunately, she overheard a few snarky people questioning whether the dog was necessary or if she was just “faking it”.

Understandably upset and disappointed, she wrote about the incident online and reminded everybody else that not all disabilities are visible. The post gained traction and was shared more than 100,000 times.

19. Cleveland, Ohio (5.0%)

In October of 2019, one unlucky man was wrongly accused of rude behavior by none other than the Cleveland Browns football franchise. In time, this snowballed into a full-fledged defamation lawsuit.

According to the incident report, Eric Smith ended up being banned from FirstEnergy Stadium for supposedly throwing beer on a player. However, he wasn’t even at the stadium when the incident occurred, as he was DJing at a wedding.

18. Houston, Texas (5.3%)

Residents of a nice Houston neighborhood placed signs banning photoshoots in 2017. The president of the HOA, Cece Fowler, explained that the signs were posted after the area was flooded with up to 50 photo shoots each week.

She said some of the abusers brought props, while others simply tore up the grass with their passing vehicles. The opposition stated that the HOA was trying to put an end to joyous occasions and stifle photographer’s creativity.

17. Jacksonville, Florida (6.2%)

The American Civility Association, a non-profit, works with kids to end bullying and violence, which is a problem in Jacksonville and in lots of cities. The mission is to promote kindness and civility.

Amy Barnett, the founder of the organization, said, “We don’t get up in the morning thinking who can we be rude to. People for the most part want to be kind.” Her efforts are sure to make the next generation a bit more empathetic!

16. Austin, Texas (6.6%)

In 2018, a company released a three-minute video showing dangerous and rude driving throughout the city of Austin, TX. It used real-life dashboard footage to make it clear that city drivers really needed to be more considerate.

The video was a montage of reckless driving behavior. There were vehicles turning into traffic, cutting others off, driving through busy intersections out of turn – the video even included a head-on crash.

15. Miami, Florida (6.8%)

A local author wrote yet another opinion piece addressing her concerns with her hometown, this time in the Miami Herald. It named the city as the world’s rudest for audiences of concerts, films, and plays.

Linda Robertson noted that punctuality is optional and movie theaters are like sports bars. She wrote that “Everybody is late and nothing starts on time. It’s humid and we move at a languid pace here.”

14. Dallas, Texas (6.9%)

Texas is the home state to three of the last five rude cities included on this list. Thankfully, there is one determined person working hard to change that for Dallas, TX – and he’s only seven years old!

Michael Smith, also known as “Lil’ Money Mike,” is doing his part to change things by fighting bullying and rudeness through rap. He released a single, titled “Bully-Proof”, on YouTube in September of 2019.

13. Las Vegas, Nevada (7.8%)

One fan visiting Las Vegas was rude to performer Elton John, of all people. In March of 2018, the fan’s annoying antics actually prompted him to leave the stage in the middle of a musical performance.

Per the musician, the man would not stop touching the piano as he tried to play even – after John asked him to cut it out. Then, the fan tried to take photos of the music legend, further interrupting the concert.

12. Atlanta, Georgia (9.1%)

State Representative Erica Thomas and a man named Erik Sparkes got into a heated argument in a grocery store in July of 2019. Thomas was checking out in the express lane and may have had too many items, which annoyed Sparkes.

Both had different accounts of what was exactly said during their heated exchange. Thomas claimed racial verbal abuse – Sparkes denied that claim, but admitted to swearing at her and calling her lazy.

11. Birmingham, Alabama (9.4%)

A group of misbehaving teens disturbed other patrons at a cinema in 2015. The mother of the kids was appalled when she found out they had been obnoxious during a film and didn’t listen when a woman asked them to be quiet.

It turns out that the woman’s husband had been laid off and they were going to the cinema for the last time for a while, only to be disturbed. The mother of the teens posted a heartfelt apology on Facebook in the aftermath.

10. San Francisco, California (9.8%)

Here’s another grievance aired via a public opinion piece published by the local news outlet. Per an angry article posted in the San Francisco Chronicle, cyclists in the Sausalito area are awfully rude.

Mike Kirner wrote that cyclists often yell curse words at tourists who drive through the area too slowly. They also cycle faster than the speed limit, in turn endangering bystanders just trying to get around.

9. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (9.9%)

Diehard fans of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles are notorious for their rude behavior. They’ve built this reputation over multiple decades of highly questionable conduct in and around the arena.

In 1968, fans hurled snowballs at Santa Clause, and there were 60 fights at a single game in 1997. Fans cheered over a severe neck injury to an opponent in 1999. In 2018, a fan even hit a police horse.

8. Baltimore, Maryland (11.2%)

A young man went to great and extraordinarily rude lengths trying to be a comedian in 2019. Walking through the streets of Baltimore, he pointed a camera at random peoples’ faces and made derogatory comments about them.

He claimed that his ultimate goal was “to get reactions out of people.” He succeeded in some cases but was also arrested for harassment and trespassing after bothering a few too many people.

7. Buffalo, New York (11.3%)

In 2017, an opinion piece was published in The Buffalo News condemning the rude reception Robert Spencer received on campus at the University of Buffalo. He is a conservative and anti-Muslim author, and he did not enjoy a warm welcome.

The piece argued that it was rude to try and drown out Spencer while he gave his speech. He was told to be quiet in the middle of the event and was bombarded with bad names as he tried to get a word in edgewise.

6. Detroit, Michigan (11.6%)

In June of 2019, a McDonald’s employee narrowly escaped a great deal of pain when a customer placed an order, then fired her Taser because her meal was taking too long to prepare. She also claimed that several employees were being rude.

Luckily, the attack missed the staff member, who also claimed she had been polite with the patron all along. Predictably, the police came and promptly confiscated the Taser from the unreasonably irate customer.

5. Boston, Massachusetts (14.9%)

For various reasons, this city has been considered rude by many outsiders for a long time. In 2019, Grace Curley wrote in the Boston Herald that some locals like to cut in line through a special technique.

She stated that someone pretends to know somebody else who is already in line for the purpose of cutting into that line. Curley said that people are even doing it in groups now to try to bypass wait times.

4. Chicago, Illinois (18.6%)

This is another city that has been labeled as rude for decades.  In fact, there was an editorial from the Chicago Tribune way back in 1985 that stated rudeness was “chronic, thoughtless, and utterly pervasive,”

Another example of exemplary rudeness came from Ed Debevic’s Diner, which is now closed. Part of the experience for more than 30 years of operation was dealing with rude staff, who were supposed to be that way.

3. Washington, D.C. (18.9%)

It’s not uncommon for rude behavior to crop up in the nation’s capital for politics, even with the strictness of the government settings. It sometimes, if not often, spills over into social life, too.

Members of the Trump administration can attest to that, as several have been heckled at various restaurants. Stephen Miller, Kirstjen Nielsen and Sarah Huckabee Sanders were all victims during the Trump presidency.

2. Los Angeles, California (19.7%)

In November of 2019, Paradise Canyon Elementary School had difficulty filling work and volunteer roles due to an extraordinary number of rude parents. Some were so rude that PTA members refused to work a car line.

Crossing guards also quit – Carrie Hetzel, the principal, said they were getting yelled at by parents every day. Richard Hing, a local resident, suggested reeducating parents on how they should act in public.

1. New York City, New York (34.3%)

Taking the cake by a wide margin is New York City, the Big Apple. Similar to cities like Boston and Chicago, New York has been considered rude by residents and visitors alike throughout its history.

In 1774, president John Adams said: “I have not seen one real gentleman, one well-bred man, since I came to town. At their entertainments there is no conversation that is agreeable; there is no modesty, no attention to one another.”