# The most boring U.S. state **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262 "2019-12-22T22:57:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/121 "2019-12-24T20:01:09Z")
Delaware’s pretty fucking boring. I’m fine with it though. No sales tax makes up for a lot things. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/122 "2019-12-24T20:15:42Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > Kansas? Really? Nah, Kansas is a wonder of overstimulatuon compared to Nebraska, but honestly the truth is Indiana is the most boring state > > And Kansas really ain’t very flat except for the western most small portion, Oklahoma and Nebraska are way flatter Yes, it’s mostly flat, but Oklahoma has four primary mountain ranges: the Ouachita Mountains, the Arbuckle Mountains, the Wichita Mountains, and the Ozark Mountains > [@Shoeless](#): > > Kansas doesn’t get flat and boring until about halfway through. And part of the problem is that the eastern third of Colorado looks just like Kansas – maybe even uglier. So it just _seems_ like the boring goes on forever. > > My vote would have to be either Oklahoma or Nebraska. As mentioned above, at least Nebraska has Omaha. I’m not sure Oklahoma has anything going for it. (Tired old joke: why is Kansas so windy? Because Nebraska blows and Oklahoma sucks!) Of course that tired old joke is used in Oklahoma too; Because Texas Sucks and Kansas blows. Plus Oklahoma is the center of all of the best fishing in the United States. Just 1000 miles in any direction and you can catch virtually anything! ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/123 "2019-12-24T20:41:18Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Of course that tired old joke is used in Oklahoma too; Because Texas Sucks and Kansas blows. Plus Oklahoma is the center of all of the best fishing in the United States. Just 1000 miles in any direction and you can catch virtually anything! Heck, there’s good fishing in Oklahoma! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nAN8MfPAZt0/maxresdefault.jpg "Oklahoma Catfish Noodlers | National Geographic") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAN8MfPAZt0) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/124 "2019-12-24T21:48:06Z")
[quote=“Dogginit, post:123, topic:845262”] Heck, there’s good fishing in Oklahoma! [/QUOTE] Good one. In Oklahoma’s eastern part the earth is a nice, dark red. And it makes a nice contrast against the green grasses. And then there’s the Red River, too. Of course it helps to have lived there for a little while, to learn to appreciate its beauty. That took some time. 🙂 There are far more boring states than Oklahoma. Oklahoma is OK. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/125 "2019-12-24T23:15:44Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Idaho. Seconded. Unless you are float-tube flyfishing or SERIOUSLY into potatoes you would be better served being anywhere else but Idaho. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/126 "2019-12-24T23:26:44Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Pennsylvania is wretchedly long and boring and attractions are limited except for Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland and Polka Party on the radio on Sunday mornings in western PA. Food and water are also hard to come by. Skip Clyde’s and head for Knoebels Amusement Park; trust me – your food problem will be solved. > [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > Pennsylvania along I-80 is unbelievably long and boring. But if it’s fall, the leaves are beautiful. I will admit 80 has issues which is why I rarely use it unless I just want to burn miles fast. There are fantastic places to visit but most are say 10 miles off the exit or so. From the time the road opened (I was on it that first weekend the whole length was in play) none of the exits really developed the way exits did in other places and other highways. And enough exits are pretty much nothing - no gas, no food, no people, no nothing - that you can really be caught by surprise. But if you have a little time to wander – did I mention Knoebels yet? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/127 "2019-12-24T23:36:50Z")
Mark of boredom: endless civic approaches lined with the same fucking chains of retailers, fuelers, eateries, Big Boxes, etc. They’re everywhere… except interesting remote areas. The Mendocino-Ft.Bragg, California area hosts hundreds of businesses, of which maybe two dozen are national brands - mostly motels, McFoods, and auto parts. Why no more chains? Trucks have a long, twisty haul to supply too-few customers. So I’l nominate the most boring state as that with the greatest infiltration of roadside sameness. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/128 "2019-12-25T00:45:22Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Q: What’s the best thing to come out of North Dakota? I don’t know about the best thing to ever come out of North Dakota, but the best thing to come to North Dakota was Sondre Ouverson Nordheim, skier – a very great telemark and alpine skier and ski jumper, and the inventor of side-cut (turning) skis. Unfortunately for Sondre, North Dakota is flat. > **[Sondre Norheim - the Skiing Pioneer of Telemark](https://www.sondrenorheim.com/)** > > Welcome to Sondre Norheim - the Skiing Pioneer of Telemark - Born in the village of Morgedal - the cradle of skiing. Read more about this legend ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/129 "2019-12-25T01:21:28Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > You could go to South Dakota and drive around Custer State Park and accidentally end up in the middle of a buffalo herd. Then take 45 minutes to drive with them so they don’t bump the car as much for about 1/2 mile until they move past you.\* Just try to do **that** in Delaware. Or Rhode Island. > > \*This actually happened to us in about 1974. In the 90s in Badlands NP I woke up and unzipped the entrance to my tent only to find a herd of buffalo. I am very glad that they didn’t take offence. In 1987 a big black storm front followed me from Denver, Colorado, to Lawrence, Kansas. Aside from being chased the entire way, that had to be the most boring drive that I have ever made. What wasn’t boring was that night in Lawrence when some tornadoes touched down. Kansas: monotony, monotony, monotony, monotony, monotony, FEAR! ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/130 "2019-12-25T03:04:24Z")
I lived in Kansas City for six years and the territory our office covered included most of Missouri, all of Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska and Arkansas. I visited clients in cities and towns all over those states. Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Oklahoma are pretty featureless landscape wise. There have been drives where I’ve been happy to see cows. Doing 70mph on a two lane road is pretty nerve-wracking but were doing that all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/131 "2019-12-25T04:20:36Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > South Dakota is NOT boring to drive across I-90 with all the Wall Drug billboards and other places to see like the Pioneer auto museum. Many years ago, I drove with some friends from Lander, Wyoming, to Chicago. I was dreading the trip across South Dakota, as I imagined it being flat and dull. I was surprised at how lovely it was, with long, rolling prairies. Very pretty. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/132 "2019-12-25T05:23:12Z")
Of all I’ve been to, I’d have to say Indiana. Boring, white-bread, conservative (any state that produced both Dan Quayle and Mike Pence is already pretty damn deep in the hole), flat, with hardly anyplace worth visiting that I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/133 "2019-12-25T07:01:41Z")
My first thought was that the most boring state would be the one with the least number of people. That would be Wyoming with a little less than 600K. But then, I thought the key is not necessarily the one with the lowest population but the one with the lowest population density. That would be Alaska with 1.3 peeps per square mile. But then, I thought that just might not be accurate because the reason AK has such a small pop density is because of the temperature. It is freezing in AK. So, the people there may well go to extra lengths to have a good time and that state could really rock! Finally, I decided that like most questions that require me to form an opinion, the best answer is that I just have no clue. Sorry! Anyway, I looked it up on Google and according to Google, the most fun state is CA (no big surprise there) and the most boring state is Idaho. Sorry Idaho. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/134 "2019-12-25T15:35:29Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > But then, I thought that just might not be accurate because the reason AK has such a small pop density is because of the temperature. It is freezing in AK. So, the people there may well go to extra lengths to have a good time and that state could really rock! This is incorrect. Alaska has a small population density because it only has about 700,000 people occupying over 660,000 square miles of territory. About 300,000 of those people live in Anchorage. Much of the state is uninhabitable because of terrain and inaccessibility, not because of cold. The climate there ranges from Arctic in the far north to temperate rainforest in the panhandle (much like the Pacific Northwest). ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/135 "2019-12-25T16:02:34Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > My first thought was that the most boring state would be the one with the least number of people. I find a large number of other things interesting; not just people. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/136 "2019-12-25T17:37:03Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I find a large number of other things interesting; not just people. > > YMMV. I think he meant that not many people live there because it’s too boring. Alaska proves that theory wrong, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/137 "2019-12-25T17:43:36Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > This is incorrect. Alaska has a small population density because it only has about 700,000 people occupying over 660,000 square miles of territory. About 300,000 of those people live in Anchorage. Much of the state is uninhabitable because of terrain and inaccessibility, not because of cold. The climate there ranges from Arctic in the far north to temperate rainforest in the panhandle (much like the Pacific Northwest). Population density of Alaska is 1.26 per square mile, so if people are bored fifty percent of the time, that translates to a boredom factor of 0.63 per day per square mile. Meanwhile, Connecticut has a population density of 739 per square mile, so even if people are bored only ten percent of the time (and believe me, it’s far more often than that), the boredom factor is 73.9 per day per square mile, or over a hundred times as much boredom. ---
**Author:** ![Stowed\_Bob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stowed_bob/32/3312_2.png) [@Stowed\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stowed_Bob)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/138 "2019-12-26T19:22:29Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > I can’t conceive of anyone saying WY is boring. That’s got to be some kind of political jab or something. I consider it a small victory they even acknowledge Wyoming exists. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/139 "2019-12-26T21:17:55Z")
Wyoming gave us Dick Cheney, politically speaking. Even I must concede that it exists. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262/140 "2019-12-26T21:46:43Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Idaho. You da ho. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-u-s-state/845262.md?page=8)