I know many posters think this is a dumb question, but I disagree strongly. Some cities and states do have friendlier people. I am talking about picking a thousand people at random and then seeing if they are: smiling, helpful, kind, open to conversation, etc. Regions have cultures where people are taught certin behaviors as they are brought up. More example you will find people with better manners in the south, people are more open to their neighbors in the midwest and tend to be more or less socially conservative in certain states.

My vote for the State with the most friendly people: North Dakota.

Hi
I am English and would have to say that I have found Maine folk to be incredibly friendly. My daughter did a school exchange with a school near Portland and her exchange family have shown us such amazing kindness! We have spent the last 2 summers over there and just love the place and people.
I have to mention New York too. We have stood on busy street corners scratching our heads over maps and ALWAYS someone comes over to offer us assistance. Even the taxi drivers would smile and chat with us if we made the effort to smile and chat to them. Maybe we were lucky - but we have never found NY cold and unfriendly. But give us Maine any day!

I think that every state has both friendly and unfriendly people---and that you get what you expect.

I love NY, but I think many people go there with their defenses up, expecting the worst. And then, that's what they get.

I will put in a vote for Alaska. I think the only thing bigger than their smiles are the size of the mosquitos(the state bird).

First of all-- troll post! (A successful one, but still a troll post.)

Second of all-- abram has got it exactly right. Wherever you go, your expectations vis-à-vis the friendliness of the locals will be met. Go to NYC thinking they're all muggers, mooches or jerks, that's what you'll find. Go there thinking they're just like everywhere else, and you'll find that they're wonderful people (if maybe a bit pressed for time and hence unable to engage in moronic chit-chat-- GET TO THE POINT!!!). Same thing in California. Same in Montana. Same in the South.

I had the pleasure of visiting a little town called Ithaca, Michigan last January and while it was painfully cold, the people were extremely nice. Being from the South, I was impressed. I knew I was out of my element when I ordered "unsweeted tea" and they all looked at me like I was crazy and said, "uh yeah, that's the only way it comes here."

No expert, but I've lived in MI, IA, CA, OR, AZ and FL, and by a wide margin the area just south of Sarasota, FL is the friendliest place I've ever lived.

Buffalo girl! yay! I am frm a town outside Buffalo........near Amherst/williamsville!
Loved it there for most of my life!
lol good one...buffalo is just melded into canada! dual citizenship too ehLOL

rj! have a heart!!!! It was a very generalized! post..but it is a successful one! Hey... I like the answers.Most of em!!We can agree to disagree on this rj!!!
Ahhhhnold........come on get over NY!
the people are great there!
I love trekking into the city too..especially around the holidays..Puts me in a festive mood.
Ive lived in NY, NV, and now MA!
I rank the friendliness in chronological order!

Hello! I have lived or visited all New England states, NYC, Missourri, DC, and California. By far, CA and DC were the friendliest. I thought I was in the twilight zone, that's how friendly they were. In contrast, RI, Boston, and NYC have the most rude people. Of course not all the people in these states are rude and I saw some great kindness after 9/11. However, I have encountered rudeness on a regular basis and in greatly out-of-proportion amounts in these states the most, with NYC being the worst. Unfortunately, NYC is where I live now but am definately looking into moving to the south or CA for the long term.

Without a doubt, Wisconsin. I'm not from there and have never even been there, but I've met a whole lot of people from Wisconsin over the last 40 years and they've all been super friendly.

Down home wisconsin. Nothing better.

Yes, GoTravel, unfortunately Tennessee is the state where the dog was shot by the trooper who thought an excited dog meant an attacking dog. What a tragedy. Tennesseans statewide were horrified by the indicent, as we love our dogs here, big time. Even those who prefer cats (don't really understand that concept) showed sympathy. That trooper wasn't officially punished, but he did get a lot of hate mail and phone calls. Nonetheless this is a friendly state, a place I'm glad to have relocated to from colder climes. Come visit. Bring your dog.

I don't think anyone has mentioned my state, North Carolina. I have lived in NY, Illinois and Florida, and NC is the friendliest I have found. In my profession I deal with a lot of out-of towners, and they often comment on how friendly people are here. We are a mix of southerners and transplants,so it is not just the locals who are friendly.

Of course------southern Indiana and Louisville, KY. You couldn't get any friendlier than that!!!! Come and visit some day you'll see.

Vermont.

We were married there and we met the nicest people--from the couple who loaned us their antique car (and wouldn't accept any money for it) to the woman who asked me if I wanted to clip any lilacs from her garden to the people we had just met who gave us a gift of maple syrup from their own trees. And then there was the musician who contacted us after the wedding and said he thought he accidentally overcharged us and wanted to send us a refund! We told him to donate it to his favorite charity.

Then again, many of these friendly Vermonters were probably originally from New York!

Why, it is TEXAS, of course, honey...

Maine.
My car broke down on route 26 late one night. Within seconds, two cars stopped to offer help. Would this have happened in your state?

Just curious...Where on 26 were you?

I've lived in California, with a few breaks for military and corporate assignments, for almost 60 years. In those assignments, I've travelled to every state except 3 (ND, RI, CT)and to a wide variety of foreign locations.

It's been my experience that most people are pretty much the same, wherever you are. There are, as one of the other posters so artfully put it, a fair proportion of a**holes everywhere. There are also a fair proportion of really outgoing jovial people. Most everyone else turns out to be friendly as you get to know them better.

If one assumes that to be true, which I do, the obvious answer to which state has the most friendly people is California. Not because a greater share of them are friendly but because we have the by far most people of any state and if you assume the same proportion of personality types, California has the most of each type.

Another vote for Tennessee. But I have visited 30 of the 50 states, including New York, and feel that the vast majority of people are friendly wherever you go in the U.S.

Most of the time (and I know there are exceptions!) you get back back what you project.