The territory of the United States is so vast that the distance from the far south to the far north, and from the far east to the far west, even exceeds the distance between several different countries.
Would people experience culture shock when traveling from the southernmost to the northernmost, and from the easternmost to the westernmost parts of the United States? Or is it that, although there are differences, it is all still American culture, so there wouldn’t be any culture shock?
40 comments
Yeah there’s culture shock just from different cities tbh.
Off the top of my head, what they might experience is that, across the whole country, one of the biggest culture differences is rural v urban
Aroostoock, ME might have more in common with Ely, NV than with NYC or Philadelphia
Yes. America is very diverse. A Mainer would feel out of place in San Diego, and a Floridian would feel out of place in Seattle.
Even just going from the Poconos to Queens would be a big culture shock
There are minor differences, like in Texas we say “H! How are you?” to pretty much everyone we pass. But my husband is from Pennsylvania and when I made eye contact and smiled at people there they legit looked at me like I might be crazy.
But nothing is *shocking*. Usually you just laugh about it.
Probably not too much
Well, our westernmost *and* southernmost state is Hawaii and yeah, it’s pretty culturally distinct.
5-10 mile distances in some cities (Compton to Beverly Hills, Oakland to Palo Alto) would have far greater culture shock than those extreme distances.
In some ways. If you go to any city, you’ll find the same chain stores and restaurants. The same Whole Foods in Montgomery, Alabama, or the same Chilis Bar and Grill in Sierra Vista, Arizona 15 miles north of Mexico.
But when you get to the small towns, they have a very different feel. Woodstock, Vermont feels a lot different than Beaufort, NC or Taos, NM.
Yes but we’d get over it quickly. Language has a lot to do with it.
The culture shock exists, but it’s not so exclusively geographic. Like someone from NYC would probably experience much less culture shock moving to LA vs moving to a super Amish/Mennonite area in Pennsylvania even though Pennsylvania is geographically closer. Geography still plays a part (if only because of climate impacts on culture) and you can still make meaningful generalizations about the culture of a region, but it’s not a 1:1 on distance and culture.
Yes.
I’ve lived on the West Coast, I’ve lived in New England, and I’ve lived din the South. They are all very distinct and there was A LOT of culture, especially with the bigger states it was a culture shock nearly from state to state. It’s like a more extreme version of rural vs urban
Yes. Moving from a small Midwest city to coastal southern California was a huge cultural shock. When I moved from SoCal to rural Michigan 20 years later I had culture shock again.
From subways to cattle being herded down the main street, yes, the culture shock was real.
There’s culture shock. People in different regions have different accents, slang, fashion, etc.. that make them distinct. Just the weather or geography can do someone in.
I couldn’t stand the flat land in the midwest. I can handle it in Alabama where there’s tons of trees, but I prefer hills or mountains. It’s unnatural to see so far in the distance and I always felt like I was being watched. Endless gray skies are depressing. People hate the heat, the cold, or the rain. My cousin couldn’t stand the lack of rain in California. The whole family was happy to move back east.
There’s a unifying culture but there’s also a lot of variation.
There’s a reason there’s a lot of skits on YouTube comparing people from different regions.
It depends on how one defines “culture shock.” There are cultural differences, but with myself, I don’t think it ever got to the point of shock. There were a few surprises (“what do you mean you once had a school warning about a polar bear in town?!” “No, school never canceled cuz of a dust storm.” “What is a hoagie?”), but nothing that *shocked* me. Most of the cultural differences, while noticeable, are more subtle.
In my experience, when I moved from the southwest to South Eastern rural Pennsylvania, I found the people more closed off and unfriendly. Once I made friends, I learned part of this was due to them not wanting to intrude in other people’s business. Additionally, myself and my friends often had stupid arguments over how something was done, with me losing most of the time cuz I was in the minority. When I got back to the west, I was able to see a lot of my opinions came from the west and it was regional differences. But again, this isn’t really a shock.
I moved from CA( near San Francisco)to NY ( near Albany)about 4 years ago and there honestly wasn’t much of a big difference culturally . The biggest difference are food preferences and racial demographics.
Yes. When I moved from the Midwestern region of the United States (Indiana) to Southern California (Los Angeles) I experienced culture shock. Took me about 6 months for me to get used to. There were small things and big things that took time to get used to.
No. I’ve been to every state except Hawaii at this point, and the culture is pretty uniform everywhere – keeping in mind that politics are not as openly discussed in person as they are online. Regional variances exist, of course, but they’re minor in the grand scheme of things. More fun than anything else. A rural person may become overwhelmed in a dense urban environment, and vice versa, but that’s not exactly the same thing as regional culture shock.
There’s culture shock. Years ago, my cousin who grew up in Delaware (one of the smallest states) came to visit us in Los Angeles. He couldn’t believe that the 40 or so miles from LAX to my parents home was all still in one county, given that our drive time was more than it took to drive across the length of Delaware. And he didn’t believe that the 8pm Friday night traffic wasn’t considered a rush hour traffic jam. The east coast states are significantly smaller than the states on the west coast.
In my experience, yes. I’ve lived in several states and have experienced some level of culture shock every time. It’s strange how different things can be even just a few states away.
From AZ and I feel comfortable anywhere on the west coast and big cities on the east.
Pull people out of the deep south and they would definitely feel it as many haven’t even left their county.
I live in Seattle at the northwest extreme of the lower 48 and recently went on a business trip to North Carolina in the southeast. Never been to the Carolinas before, but was shocked at how absolutely slow the pace of life was compared to where I live, the thickness of the drawl (I had to repeat myself and often had to ask others to repeat themselves), the number of Confederate flags despite having a significantly higher population of African Americans around than we have in the Northwest. Manners were so much warmer and strangers were more prone to engaging in deeper conversation than back home.
Yes
I moved from the west coast to the east coast a few years ago and it definitely took some conscious effort to adjust. I wouldn’t say a huge culture shock like one might experience when visiting a different country entirely, but the general lifestyle and attitudes of the general public are noticeably different from what I grew up with.
Well it doesn’t necessarily have to do with distance like that. Like someone from NYC going to a small Appalachian mountain town would experience more culture shock than if they went across the country to California.
Every state has university towns that are very similar to each other. Every state has ranchers and farmers. The biggest differences that I’ve seen (lived in 4 western states and 4 eastern states, lived in towns of 2,500 people and cities of 8.8 million). The biggest differences I’ve seen are between northeast urban and southeast suburban and rural.
Yes. I grew up in Minneayand moved to New England. I had culture shock.
A lot of people moved from NYC to Austin during covid. They all consistently say that the relative lack of emphasis on Memorial Day and Labor Day makes them homesick.
There are places in the country that, while geographically distant, are very similar.
And some that aren’t so distant that are.
I’ve lived in NY and CA and while there were differences, there were far more similarity.
But when I travel from NY to pretty much anywhere south of Virginia there are more noticeable differences.
But nothing I’d classify as cultural shock.
Ultimately there is still an underlying American culture beneath the differences that provides a level of familiarity even when some aspects are noticeably different.
That’s not to say there are no places in the US I would experience culture shock.
Just not that many. And likely some are closer than places farther away it where I’d feel pretty much at home.
Are we talking just the lower 48, all 50 states, or are territories included?
There would be definite culture shock for someone living in one of the extremes visiting the other. A tourist from another country might not notice it as much. If you add in Hawaii (all 50) or American Samoa (territory) it would be much more noticeable.
I live in San Diego, CA and have visited Wilmington, NC. I wasn’t shocked, but I was also unhappy. I hated not being able to walk 15 mins to a coffee shop or a pizza place or a ramen bar or a mex place. I wasn’t able to get anything doordashed except for Carls jr, and the closest grocery store was a 30-45 minute drive. I wasn’t culture shocked, but I was unhappy.
I lived most of my life in the South, and moved to Montana almost 10 years ago.
There are definitely growing pains if you move to a whole different region of the country. Where I’m from, there are certain things that ingrained on you – addressing your elders by sir or ma’am, hospitality, being helpful. Montanans are more distant and reserved. I get asked a lot if I’m in the military.
There are a lot of similarities as well. You adapt as time passes though.
Not really. I’ve been to all except Alaska and find it not to be terribly shocking-not even rural and urban.
It’s more-so an urban vs. suburban vs. rural thing than it is a regional thing. I feel the same shock in random ranch towns in California as I do in Columbia, Mississippi, for example. I feel like culture shock is a bit of an extreme term for it, though. As long as everyone speaks my language, it’s not *that* shocking because I already had a somewhat accurate idea of what it was like before I ever went, mostly through relatives and other hearsay. I’d be way more culturally shocked in Lisbon (comparable to my home city environment-wise, but in a different country) than I would be in the hollers of Virginia or something.
I’ve found it common, though not universal, for the people I meet from other states to sometimes struggle in NJ because of cultural differences, and I find I struggle outside of NJ as well. A lot of the U.S. puts a huge emphasis on politeness, but that is different region to region. In NJ it is directness, frankness, and cursing a lil is what flies as polite around here, where pleasantries are secondary to getting to the point in pretty much all regards. It’s also not considered as rude (though still rude) to somewhat talk over people and interject during conversation, as it’s considered active participation and enthusiasm. Though as others have said, you’re going to find bigger differences between rural and urban more than you will anything else.
Though I will say, I felt more culture shock in Houston TX than I did in Bristol, England. Yeah NJ has a lot of parking lots but Houston was another level.
There’s obviously cultural variation within the US but I personally don’t think it’s varied enough to constitute culture SHOCK. I mean, you have to feel confusion and anxiety, and with how similar the laws are, the language, dominant religion… yea I don’t think the average person will actually get shock staying within the country.
I’m old and I’ve lived a lot of places all over the US – everything from big cities to rural towns, both coasts, the midwest, and the south. I think the only regions I haven’t been to are the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Mass US culture is everywhere – so there are nationwide foods, news media, music, movies, TV shows, etc. There are regional differences, but I wouldn’t put it at “culture shock” levels of surprise and/or discomfort. It **is** different living in a small rural town in Texas compared to living in a big city on the east coast, but it’s less different than you might think. There are a lot of common points of shared experience, even when you are the new person in the new environment.
Every area has its own special things that are unique to it, but they are often more of a bonus to explore than a cultural rift. And they are the things you miss when you move away, even as you appreciate the new unique things in your new home.
I would argue that a “majority” of the cultures in the United States are sub-cultures of American culture. They are different, but also the same. So you will NOT get culture shock because of the surprising amount of conformity that a lot of people take for granted or not notice.
To look at it another way, a lot of people move from one state to another all the time with little concern about not fitting in.
Not really no
Not really