Even in this era of globalization, social media, and 24-hour news, there’s still so much we don’t know about how other human beings live. It’s endlessly fascinating to see how people in different countries eat, study, speak, dress, and go about their day-to-day.
With that in mind, I started a little experiment to find out what non-Americans associate with each of our 50 United States. I asked the BuzzFeed Community to give me a word, a phrase, or a quick thought on as many US states as they could. We all walk around with assumptions built from a combination of news, pop culture, and assorted gossip — I thought this exercise would give an interesting window into how the rest of the world perceives our huge, diverse, wild, weird country.
Here’s what they had to say:
1.ALABAMA
Alabama definitely has a…rough perception overseas. I thought this response had some interesting context:
“I think of inbreeding (horrible TV stereotype) and Sweet Home Alabama and Birmingham where we learned at school (UK) about the riots and atrocities that were done to African Americans in the ’60s especially. Racism and segregation.” —Crizzy444
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2.ALASKA
I thought the responses for Alaska were pretty fascinating. A mixture of “IT’S COLD” and then some neat details. Like this one:
“Moose, pretty nature, big spiders” —nicoles0426
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3.ARIZONA
There was definitely a lot about the topography, nature, and climate in Arizona, but it’s another state that evoked some “racist” and “right wing” associations. Interesting for close political watchers since it seems like a firmly purple state based on the 2020 elections. As someone who’s never seen Twilight, the “Bella Swan” one threw me, I’m not gonna lie.
I thought this one was fun and funny, too:
“Like the USS Arizona? My sibling is a battleship nerd.” —ravenbard
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4.ARKANSAS
You can probably see the themes emerging when it comes to Arkansas. This response bucked the trend, though:
“Josh Duggar 😯” —nicoles0426
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5.CALIFORNIA
Now this one was fascinating — the dual nature of California’s mystique really came to the fore with this batch of responses. On one hand, there’s the natural beauty, temperate weather, and “Hollywood,” but people overseas aren’t seeing all sunshine and roses:
“Traffic jams on freeways bigger than most countries” —georginab45f8d57a8
“Laidback even though everything is insanely expensive. The beach and the mountains. A really beautiful state.” —Spellsandcurses ✨
“Illegal aliens, homelessness, junky zombies, crime, roads and sidewalks paved in human feces, lawlessness.” —warcok76
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6.COLORADO
The Colorado brand is strong worldwide. JonBenét caught me off guard, I gotta say, though. Most of the rest of the commentary just added color to the “outdoors + weed” themes:
“South Park, skiing, and ‘I’m a giraffe!'” —hobbitgirl96
“Rich people who ski.” —pinkdeedle
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7.CONNECTICUT
This one shows the global power of American pop culture again, ya know? The only other response I wanted to highlight is so specific I feel like this person must be American after all:
“Lyme disease.” —whale_tail
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8.DELAWARE
Even Americans don’t always have immediate associations with Delaware in fairness. I always think of the stone-faced, “Hi… I’m in Delaware” scene from Wayne’s World. (If you know, you know.)
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9.FLORIDA
Florida’s reputation abroad is…interesting. The overall sentiment was one of chaos, political strife, and, well, Disney.
“Disneyland, swamps, transphobia.” —zoecatherinegrant
“Ron DeSantis, who scares me even though he would have no jurisdiction over me as either president, as current governor of Florida, or in any other US legislative or executive capacity since I live in NI, but I’m still petrified of that man holding political office.” —deirdrerocks88
“People die by alligators, and everyone wants to go live there in the winter. Or retire there. I’m in Canada, and many older people go there for the winter.” —Azazel
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10.GEORGIA
Lots of people are paying attention to American politics! Makes sense! You’ll see more of that below, but there’s a nice reminder that Georgia isn’t just a state in the US:
“Stacey Abrams. 💪” —eggsplosion420
“Not the country.” —georginab45f8d57a8
“Bible belt.” —hobbitgirl96
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11.HAWAII
The ongoing cultural tourism conversation about visiting Hawaii has made it beyond US borders for sure:
“Tourist state.” —Azazel
“The indigenous people want us all to leave them alone because of what tourism has done to their home.” —eggsplosion420
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12.IDAHO
Bit of a mixed bag there for Idaho!
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13.ILLINOIS
I guess deep dish discourse hasn’t made its way overseas. Probably for the best! This response made me laugh:
“Chicago is there, and that is all I know about it. Aside from New York, this appears to be where all the legal dramas are because ‘Cook County’ gets mentioned in every other crime show.” —juliahowie1988
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14.INDIANA
Sports! Besides TV & film, probably America’s largest cultural export.
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15.IOWA
Pretty cool that the works of travel and science writer Bill Bryson has A) made him prominent internationally and B) made him prominent enough that he’s associated with his home state of Iowa.
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16.KANSAS
That’s all we got, folks! I am curious about “the second Texas,” though.
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17.KENTUCKY
Strong brand! In the comment section, there were four mentions of chicken, three mentions of horses or horse racing, and two mentions of bourbon.
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18.LOUISIANA
Louisiana, and especially New Orleans, does have such established lore. Especially when it comes to food:
“BEST FOOD YOU WILL EVER HAVE!” —Chyna Wilson
“Beignets.” —jadeclawtabaxi
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19.MAINE
That last one really took me by surprise! Maine’s clearly got a bit of a narrow brand overseas. As someone who’s visited several times and had my pants charmed off, more people should explore Maine! Shoutout to my friend Emily’s custom woodworking shop — love ya, Em!
Here’s an additional response I had to Google:
“Fudge-a-Mania!” —eggsplosion420
Clearly I haven’t read enough Judy Blume.
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20.MARYLAND
OK, that first one really got me. Turns out it’s a song by adult contempo crooner Vonda Shepard. I guess it was on Ally McBeal once upon a time? (Talk about a show that Gen Z would have no clue about…)
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21.MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts’s reputation is defined by history, education, and, maybe, Ben Affleck?! There were many such variations on the theme in the comment section:
“Salem!” —ravenbard
“MIT.” —georginab45f8d57a8
And the honestly quite delightful:
“It’s CHOWDAH not CHOWDER” —ilovecatsandmyhoodies
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22.MICHIGAN
Michigan: revered the world over for its natural splendor. Can’t complain there!
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23.MINNESOTA
Scandinavian representation! According to the Minnesota Tourism Board, the state is “home to the largest population of Norwegians and Swedes outside of Scandinavia.” I’m searching for a clever Ikea joke or reference here, but we’re 23 states in, so my mind is solid mush at this point. (Can mush be solid, actually?) (Sorry, moving on.)
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24.MISSISSIPPI
There were two identical “*dueling banjos*” jokes in the comments, which was impressive. I’m curious to unpack “at the bottom of every list and proud of it,” but I don’t want to assume too much authorial intent here. I will say, though, that according to the Mississippi Department of Education, the state moved from dead last to 35th in K–12 achievement as of 2021. So do with that what you will!
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25.MISSOURI
This one got weird! Nary a single “St. Louis” reference!
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26.MONTANA
“Hannah” had me confused for a minute, but then I looked at the name of the state again. 🫣
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27.NEBRASKA
Was not expecting an Election reference, but what a great reminder to check out a banger of a movie. Here’s a snippet for your enjoyment if you’re totally unfamiliar with Tracy Flick and co. (And yes, it’s set in Omaha, Nebraska.)
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28.NEW HAMPSHIRE
Seems like New Hampshire’s truly one-of-a-kind state motto, “Live Free or Die,” hasn’t been clocked internationally yet. A shame.
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29.NEVADA
Can’t say I’m too surprised! I did like the additional color in this commentary:
“Las Vegas. Particularly the insanely hot dry air outdoors and the icy cold air indoors. I’m from the UK so those were a shock to my system every day during my visit. I admit I usually said when outdoors: ‘A bit nippy out there, innit?’ (sarcastic) and when indoors: ‘Fckin’ hell, it’s cold enough to freeze a brass monkey’s balls.'” —Prolix
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30.NEW JERSEY
I had to include this very anthropological comment:
“A large Italian immigrant population led to a concentration of tanning beds in this region decades later” —juliahowie1988
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31.NEW MEXICO
I think you’ll agree when you read these responses:
“When asked red or green, say ‘Christmas.’ Hot air balloon fiesta. We are more than Breaking Bad.” —Lookwhosposting
“Eee! Red or green? Do you want to get down, or no? Mijo/Mija Balloon Fiesta, chile ristras, chips and queso, farolitos, roadrunners, Route 66, Georgia O’Keeffe, White Sands…just to name a few!” —derdin8
I will say, the responses do make New Mexico sound both mysterious and fascinating. The one recurring theme I can shine some light on is “red/green” — they’re widely known for their chiles, and in 1996 New Mexico made, “Red or green?” the “official state question.” I didn’t know states could have “official questions,” but here we are!
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32.NEW YORK
The responses were unsurprisingly dominated by visions of New York City, which loom large in the international consciousness. Don’t sleep on Niagara Falls, Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall of Fame, or Rochester’s garbage plates, though. Here are a couple other responses to round us out:
“Seinfeld, Friends, Sex and the City.” —whale_tail
“Rich models.” —pinkdeedle
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33.NORTH CAROLINA
More South Carolina chatter in the commentary here than I was expecting!
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34.NORTH DAKOTA
Getting some conflicting responses here, folks! For the record, Mount Rushmore is in South Dakota.
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35.OHIO
Disappointing if I’m right! You be the judge:
“Rollercoasters. Namely Cedar Point and King’s Island. The state has more giga coasters (full circuit and over 300 ft.) than every other country on earth (Canada, Spain, and Japan all have one each).” —kathryna456a720b8
“People from Ohio seem like assholes until you actually get to know them and realize it’s all a front.” —937kim
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36.OKLAHOMA
37.OREGON
Not gonna lie, I had to google “Oregon cryptids.” It did lead me to this fascinating Willamette Week article, though, which explained that A) cryptids are “creatures of dubious origin not confirmed to exist by science” and that B) there seem to be a lot of cryptid sightings in Oregon!
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38.PENNSYLVANIA
Pop culture supremacy! In fairness, I feel like most millennials could recite the entire Fresh Prince theme.
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39.RHODE ISLAND
For whatever reason, I always think of RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) when Rhode Island comes up. Maybe because once you’ve seen the iconic noise-rock band Lightning Bolt, who met as RISD students, perform live…you’re forever changed.
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40.SOUTH CAROLINA
Sorry, Carolinas, that’s all I got!
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41.SOUTH DAKOTA
It’s worth reading up on the Wounded Knee massacre if you haven’t already.
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42.TENNESSEE
Strong brand for Tennessee! Some additional responses:
“Home of the Grand Ole Opry.” —ravenbard
“Tennessee Williams.” —georginab45f8d57a8
And a bonus from a commenter who has to live in Nashville:
“Bachelorette parties with giant inflated penises.” —jefavia
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43.TEXAS
Texas, perhaps unsurprisingly, stirred up a lot of conversation in the comments. I’ll let it speak for itself:
“Cowboys. Sweet tea. Far right and racism. Friendliness if the right sort of person. (Based on TV and internet only.) Also massive.” —Crizzy444
“Guns, racism, idiots, Young Sheldon, anti-abortion, backward.” —solongandthanksforallthefish1
“It’s seems kinda depressing, and cowboys?” —Azazel
And this riposte from an actual Texan:
“Texas is a lot more tolerant than given credit for. Just because you see a Trump Rally here doesn’t mean we all support him. There are racist people everywhere. But you will meet the nicest people willing to give you the shirt off their back if you need it. And we have damn good B-B-Que, too!” —klynn214
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44.UTAH
Since there’s no pop culture in these responses, allow me to recommend an underrated Utah-based ’90s film — SLC Punk.
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45.VERMONT
A pretty dang wholesome brand, I must say.
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46.VIRGINIA
47.WASHINGTON
Some Washingtonians weighed in as well:
“That only describes half the state. 🙂 We also have a more desert climate with majority sunny days on the east side.” —lisaa31
“If Washington were a sign, it would definitely be Gemini. The west side is green, cool, progressive. The east is brown, MAGA, boring AF…” —raingirl98275
“I promise not everyone over here on the east side are MAGA cultists. 🙂 And it’s not boring if you like being outdoors.” —lisaa31
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48.WEST VIRGINIA
John Denver’s legacy is cemented, safe to say.
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49.WISCONSIN
A bit thin on Wisconsin details here. This response was clearly from a true Wisconsinite:
“Go Pack Go!” —kathryna456a720b8
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50.WYOMING
Yellowstone National Park is conspicuously missing here. Granted, it spans Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, but it’s mostly in Wyoming. And it’s epic.
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Thanks to all those who submitted comments. I find it endlessly fascinating to unpick the assumptions we all have about each other from afar. Feel free to add more to the conversation in the comments of this post!
