When I Google what the most average city in the US is, the most common answer I see is Columbus, Ohio. What’s the city that best represents the average/normal of your state like Columbus represents the US as a whole?

30 comments

  1. Peoria is so average that there’s an idiom going “but how will it play in Peoria?” meaning, *how will regular people take it?*

    There’s also a town called Normal, though.

  2. I dunno, probably one of the less interesting Seattle suburbs. Maybe Shoreline or something.

  3. Ironically Columbus is quite the outlier in Ohio, Massillon, Springfield, Ashland, or Lima would be much more typical in Ohio.

  4. Tough one. There are 3 primary cities in SC (Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston) and each is different.

    So… I guess I’ll say Columbia since it sits smack dab between Greenville and Charleston. But that being said it is my least favorite SC city.

  5. In Connecticut I’d have to say Manchester. It’s not wealthy, but not impoverished. It is majority white but has a significant percentage of POC.

  6. Mankato is pretty run-of-the-mill. You could say St. Cloud for centrality reasons, but the people of St. Cloud are anything but average.

  7. In Hawaii it’s Honolulu as around 70% of the population lives there, however narrowing it down a bit; somewhere like Pearl City would be pretty damn average in my book.

  8. Castle Rock. It’s between Denver and Colorado Springs on I-25 and could be the location for the Stepford Wives.

  10. Sacramento…. Its the state capital but it is surprisingly small/nothing special otherwise!

    Especially when compared to more well-known cities in California, like San Diego, LA, or San Fran

  14. Oh, I don’t know. Macon.

    I was going to say Augusta but they have that golf thing.

  17. Most Texans live in the big two metro areas and most people in the two metros live in the suburbs.

    For Houston, I would go with Pearland as the average and DFW, I would take Arlington. Solidly middle class suburbs that demographically are pretty close to the overall state numbers in every possible way.

  18. Greensboro. Approximately in the middle of the state’s other cities, generically NC with few outstanding characteristics, a nice place nonetheless

  19. Muncie, IN to the point it was chosen for a study for that exact reason back in i think the ’30s

  20. In NJ, I’d say New Brunswick.

    Good balance of city and suburbs, has diversity and is pretty centered so you can get to NYC, you can get to the shore and northern NJ pretty easily.

  21. I’d say Fredericksburg. Not quite the DC suburbs but not quite as Southern as the rest of the state.

  22. Pretty much all the cities in NY besides the big one are very average. Ithaca is a hoot though.

    Most average is probably Syracuse. I dunno. It’s a decent area. Not too big or small. The president went to law school there though.

  23. Maybe Fond Du Lac? It’s between Milwaukee and Appleton, right at the foot of Lake Winnebago (hence the name). It’s not a tiny town, but I wouldn’t call it a city, either.

  24. I’m interested to see answers for California, because I really have no idea how to answer this for the state.

  29. Cookeville Tennessee. Not really special about the place, and half the towns in the state look the same.

  30. Winston-Salem has a reputation here for being as middle-of-the-road as possible

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