Colorado crossed six million residents in 2025. But for the first time in years, more people left for other states than moved in from them, according to state demographers. People still move in, though. Whether you land in Denver for a job or a mountain town for the snow, you run into the same surprises…
You don’t expect to need a translation when someone tells you where they’re from in Maine. Then they use a nickname, and you’re left trying to match it to a town you’ve actually heard of. These are the Maine town nicknames nobody from out of state understands. 1. Millinocket Millinocket goes by “the Magic City”…
Michigan couples now spend an average of over $30,000 on a wedding, according to The Wedding Report, a wedding industry research firm. That number only covers the couple. Bridesmaids charge flights to credit cards, and guests fly across the country just to watch two people get married. These are the wedding habits Michiganders say have…
Virginia Tech’s Southwest Virginia Language Project spent this year studying how Virginians say one word—Appalachia—using recordings a podcast called Appodlachia collected from listeners across 13 states. The split follows the mountains. These are the things Virginians say that place them east or west of the Blue Ridge. 1. Poke In Virginia’s westernmost counties, beyond the…
A trivia app flashes “Name Missouri’s capital,” and the easy guess for out-of-staters is St. Louis. That guess is wrong. These are the things out-of-staters get wrong about Missouri. 1. Kansas City’s Missouri Address Kansas City carries the name of a different state, and that alone convinces many out-of-staters it must sit inside Kansas. It…
Florida has received more hurricane landfalls in October than any other state, according to National Hurricane Center records going back to 1851. State parks close campgrounds and tighten ranger enforcement as the season turns. The visitors don’t stop coming, though. These are the Florida state park rules some visitors break every October. 1. Sea Turtle…
Minnesota has built its reputation on being nice. A 2026 SmartAsset study measuring time spent socializing, volunteering, and helping others put the state at No. 11 for friendliness, just outside the top ten. But friendly doesn’t mean being direct. These are the things Minnesotans say that mean the opposite. 1. “That’s Interesting” The warmest-sounding compliment…
Being born in Oregon used to come with an unwritten promise: You’d probably stay for good. That promise is breaking. The nonpartisan Common Sense Institute Oregon studied U.S. Census Bureau migration data and found the state’s national migration ranking fell from second in 2016 to 45th by 2023. These are the reasons Oregonians are leaving…
Mississippi has led the entire country in one industry since the late 1980s, and out-of-staters rarely name it on the first guess. These are the Mississippi myths locals are tired of correcting. 1. Not the River’s Delta Locals call the stretch of farmland between Memphis and Vicksburg “the Delta.” Out-of-staters hear that word and picture…
Ask a Nutmegger where Connecticut’s nickname came from, and the story changes depending on which town you ask in. Even the Connecticut Historical Society admits nobody can prove colonial peddlers ever carved fake nutmegs to trick a buyer. It’s not Connecticut’s only endless argument. These are the things Nutmeggers argue about that have no right…
