That's nice
Austin rolls out the welcome mat as America's nicest city in new ranking
Austin is officially the nicest city in the U.S.
For years, Austin has starred on all sorts of lists — best cities for millennials, best cities for tech workers, best places to live, and so forth. Now, we’ve earned perhaps the nicest accolade a city can receive.
Language-learning app Preply surveyed more 1,500 residents of the country’s largest metropolitan areas to determine which cities are home to the politest people and the rudest people. Fortunately, Austin topped the list of the polite cities (or, put another way, the least rude ones).
“From our results, it seems that Austinites enjoy a laid-back, friendly city atmosphere, even as the city continues to grow rapidly,” Preply observes. “In general, the state of Texas has a reputation for politeness and friendliness, along with the rest of the South, underscoring the stereotype of Southern hospitality. It makes sense that five of the most polite U.S. cities are concentrated in the Lone Star State.”
Following Austin on the list of the politest cities are:
- San Diego, No. 2
- Fort Worth, No. 3
- Nashville, No. 4
- Indianapolis, No. 5
El Paso appears at No. 13 on the nice list, with San Antonio at No. 14 and Dallas tied at No. 15 with Charlotte, North Carolina.
At the top of Preply’s ranking of the rudest cities is Philadelphia. Houston lands at No. 10.
Preply’s list of the most polite cities differs from one published earlier this year by Condé Nast Traveler magazine. The publication’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey crowned Greenville, South Carolina, as the friendliest city in the U.S., with San Antonio at No. 4 and Austin at No. 10.
Meanwhile, a list released last year by Airbnb placed Austin at No. 7, Dallas at No. 9, and San Antonio at No. 10 among the country’s most hospitable cities.
