America’s Most Boring Cities: Phoenix Ranks in Top 10

USA Today photo by Jenna Ortiz.

Since Phoenix carries an average high summer temperature in the triple digits, like 104 and 105 triple digits, there’s not a lot to do but stay inside most days.

We always hear, “Yeah, but at least it’s just a dry heat.” Well, it’s still hot and that heat drives Phoenix residents inside for four months a year since September still averages 100 degrees. That’s just one reason why the “Valley of the Sun” ranks among the most boring cities in America.

BetArizona.com took a break from Arizona sports betting coverage and set out to find the answer by surveying 600 U.S. residents via Reddit.com’s /AskReddit subreddit to utilize their commented answers for the question, “What is the most boring major U.S. city?” The survey included only cities within the Top 50 in population in the United States.

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Top 10 Most Boring Cities in United States: Survey Results

Rank	City	# of Votes	% of Votes
1	Indianapolis, IN	33	5.5%
2	San Jose, CA	31	5.2%
3	Phoenix, AZ	26	4.3%
4	Houston, TX	24	4.0%
5	Raleigh, NC	23	3.8%
T-6	Dallas, TX	22	3.7%
T-6	Jacksonville, FL	22	3.7%
8	Columbus, OH	20	3.3%
9	Omaha, NE	19	3.2%
10	Bakersfield, CA	18	3.0%

Indianapolis Voted America's Most Boring City

The Reddit.com survey put Indianapolis at No. 1 for most boring, while San Jose, California, sits at No. 2 and Phoenix picked up the bronze medal at No. 3 on the list with 4.3% of the votes.

California is one of two states to post two cities in the Top 10, as Bakersfield comes at No. 10 to join San Jose. Texas is the other, as the heat from the concrete jungles that make up Houston and Dallas also tend to drive everyone inside all summer.

Texans can’t stay inside during September because that’s when high school football gets rolling and there’s not many who can stay away from that in Texas. That puts three of the nine largest cities in the country among the Top 10 most boring, as Houston is the fourth largest, followed by Phoenix at No. 5 and Dallas at No. 9. No one’s ever going to call the three biggest cities boring — New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.

What Makes Phoenix A Boring US City?

Phoenix also represents strong among concrete jungles, and it’s in the middle of the Arizona desert, so there’s not much that’s a short drive away. It’s 258 miles and nearly five hours to Las Vegas.

The amount of beige in Phoenix also factors into the city’s boring reputation. It’s almost like architects were trying to make the city blend in with desert. Still, there are plenty who find much to love about living in Phoenix and all it has to offer, including Arizona sports betting apps.

USA Today photo by Jenna Ortiz.

America's Most Boring Cities FAQs

According to a survey conducted in 2024 on Reddit, America's most boring city is Indianapolis, Indiana. The home of the Indianapolis 500, among other top sporting events, brought in 5.5% of all votes.

Yes, Phoenix was voted as the third-most boring city in a survey conducted on Reddit. The only two cities to receive more votes were San Jose, California and Indianapolis, Indiana, ranked second and first, respectively.

The survey conducted on Reddit voted both California and Texas are home to four of the 10-most boring cities in America. In California, San Jose and Bakersfield rank 3rd and 10th while the two most boring cities in Texas include Houston and Dallas ranked 4th and 6th on the list, respectively.

Author

Douglas Pils

@DouglasPils

Douglas Pils has been a sports journalist for 30 years in Texas, Arkansas and New York having worked for the San Antonio Express-News, the Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News and Newsday. He most recently ran the Student Media Department at Texas A&M for eight years.