The Friendliest States & the Least Friendliest States... How did your state rank?

[Wendy31]

The Friendliest States in America

Big 7 Travel recently published a list of the Friendliest States in America, beginning w/ the Least Friendly (New York, #50) & ending w/ the Most Friendly (Minnesota, #1).

The 10 Least Friendly States (w/ New York being #50 in the overall ranking & Rhode Island being #41 in the overall ranking):

New York
Arkansas
Delaware
Massachusetts
New Jersey
Washington
New Hampshire
Nevada
Florida
Rhode Island

The 10 Friendliest States (w/ Minnesota being #1 in the overall ranking & Hawaii being #10 in the overall ranking):

Minnesota
Tennessee
South Carolina
Texas
Wyoming
Indiana
Colorado
Kansas
Oklahoma
Hawaii

How did your state rank? Agree? Disagree?

TN is listed as the #2 Friendliest State, & I'd like to agree, of course. However, I remembered a conversation I had w/ a Texas native a couple of years ago.

The person w/ whom I spoke moved to TN from Texas (#4) & very much disagrees. I've talked w/ her about how hard a time her family has had moving to TN. She says people in the Volunteer State are only "surface friendly," & making actual new friends has been hard for her family & that they haven't been able to develop any new, meaningful relationships. She says Texas, on the other hand is completely different, and people are more accepting of new people & genuinely welcome new people into their circles. She says southerners are surface-friendly & "chatty" - but suspicious of actually welcoming people into their circles & making any kind of meaningful connections w/ newcomers.

I'm not sure I agree w/ her, but, at any rate, is "friendliness" even the same thing as being able to make meaningful connections & actual friendships?

 

[TipsyTraveler]

I lived my whole life in #27 Maryland and just moved to #16 Georgia. I’m not sure how I feel about Maryland’s ranking. I wouldn’t have expected it to score that high, but mostly that culture has always been my baseline normal and I therefore can’t really be objective about it.

I would believe that Georgia is friendlier, or at least the residents are more outgoing. I’ll strike up a conversation with strangers out in public and when they hear I just moved to the area they respond with “Well here, take my number in case you need anything.” Taking my son to the playground feels like speed dating.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

And Florida is un friendly not buying it I think Florida is friendly but i was born and rased in Florida

I think how you are treated is a reflection on how you treat others

I have bern told that before

 

[Moliphino]

47, sounds about right. I don't want any chit chat with strangers when I'm out and about.

 

[Skippy918]

I’m from NY, lived in NJ and now in Texas. Huge difference in friendliness. People in ny and nj don’t make small talk with others they don’t know whereas in TX it’s common. I noticed the difference as soon as we moved here.

 

[low-key]

Ohio is number 11, I would buy that we are freindly. I wanted to see where South Carolina is, cause my niece married a sufer dude from Myrtle Beach , and he is just so nice, they were number 3

 

[L&Lfan]

I was born and reared in the third friendliest ( South Carolina) and have lived most of my adult life in the 46th and 47th (New Jersey and Massachusetts) least friendliest and I’d have to agree.

 

[Deb & Bill]

And Florida is un friendly not buying it I think Florida is friendly but i was botn and rased in Florida

I think how you are treated is a reflection on how you treat others

I have bern told that before

It must be all those people moving from the ten least friendly states. We moved to FL from Louisiana where everyone say Hi to each other. During the season when 75% of our area is all snowbirds, they look at you funny when you stay Hi. Like, "what do you want from me? "

I'm not sure I agree with Arkansas from the least friendly list. Everyone I knew from Arkansas was very friendly.

 

[RedAngie]

Delaware, #48. Sounds accurate.

 

[Meriweather]

Well, I have lived in #39, 40 and 45 and don't think any of them are unfriendly

 

[Skippy918]

I also noticed a huge difference in friendliness from when we cruised out of Galveston vs Florida. The Galveston cruise was 90% ppl from Texas and I chatted with so many people and everyone was friendly. Cruising out of Florida, people mostly kept to themselves or their groups they were with.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I would agree with the least friendly list with one caveat. For the most part, Florida is a friendly state, until the snowbirds come to roost. As far as the friendliest, I'm not sure about that. There is very little difference in North Carolina, South Carolina & Tennessee residents. NC may have been excluded, because so many people from the least friendly states are relocating there.

 

[StarGirl11]

We’re number 7, not even surprised. I remember moving here 11 years ago and being genuinely surprised at how friendly people are here. And I moved from AL which aren’t exactly unfriendly people either (number 21).

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I think FL is a friendly state; I’ve found it much easier to make friends here than when I lived in NYC. I think people are a little more open down here.

I do, however, think NY gets an unfair rep. Sure, you’ll encounter some gruff people, but plenty of people are friendly. I’ve had some wonderful interactions with strangers.

 

[Mirielle]

It must be all those people moving from the ten least friendly states. We moved to FL from Louisiana where everyone say Hi to each other. During the season when 75% of our area is all snowbirds, they look at you funny when you stay Hi. Like, "what do you want from me? "

Exactly.

 

[Poohlove]

I'm very surprised by New Hampshires negative rating and even more surprised that Maine wasnt more toward the bottom. I recently visited Portland and being from New Jersey was taken aback by how unfriendly the area was. I chatted with a girl working in one of the stores about an experience I had earlier that day and she said that she wasn't surprised and that "native Mainers" were not the friendliest. I guess it's the just areas in those states that I frequent.

For New Jersey, there is New York New Jersey and New Jersey. I find that the further north you go the more different things are - no offense to anyone, just an observation based on my experiences.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I apparently have now resided in 2 of the least friendliest states. I can maybe understand an outsiders Impression of unfriendly for NY. It’s always hustle bustle and life is quick paced even in the burbs. Whose got time for chit chat? A different space of life.
Fla..one of the first things I noticed here was How friendly people are, whether I’m in a market, business or out walking/running etc.
I do see a difference depending on which side of the state I was on. The SW coast seems less busy, slower paced, dare I say Friendlier, whereas the SE coast seemed more like a continuation of the NE, more rushed and hectic.
I do think that lifestyle itself and how you interact with others is how you interpret friendliest.
I will say another thing for Fla.. it’s friendlier in our wallets, lol.
And I agree, Tn was one of The Friendliest.. I’ve experienced. Love it!

 

[PollyannaMom]

#47

I don't actually perceive Massachusetts as unfriendly, though.

Then again, I grew up in NY, so 47 beats 50, right? - Seriously, though, I lived far from the city, and "tiny town where everybody knows your grandparents" probably overrides any state ranking.

I think people here are more tentative about starting up a conversation than in some places I've traveled, but you can definitely find people willing to chat. And they do turn out to help in an emergency.

 

[firefly_ris]

I think it's more dependent on cities/towns than states. States are too big to categorize all of it into 1 ranking. Especially NY which for most people seems to translate to "NYC Metro area" and forgetting there's the whole rest of the state. I think Buffalo is generally pretty friendly.

I also think parts of Maryland are plenty friendly and others not so much.

I guess generally I think this ranking thing by state is sort of lame, ha.

 

[_19disnA]

I think it's more dependent on cities/towns than states.....

^^^ I agree.

Always find such surveys to be useless and overly generalized. The specific criteria used to do the rankings is mostly what matters. For this survey, they say it is based on the opinion of the people they ask.