Australia’s rudest cities ranked - Travel

Aug 17, 2023

And before you ask, Sydney isn't on the list.

Rude people — you can find them everywhere. But a new survey claims to have found the rudest city in Australia. See where your city sits on the politeness scale.

For a city that is best known for sugar, Bundaberg has apparently gotten itself a reputation for being very bitter.

The Queensland town has come in at No.1 on list of Australia’s rudest cities, based on a survey by learning platform Preply.

In a blog post, the company said it wanted to find out which Australians cities were perceived to be the rudest, so it surveyed 1503 people from 22 of the largest metro areas to rate the rudeness of their own town on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the worst.

They were also asked which kinds of rude behaviour they witnessed most from a list that included being noisy in public, being on the phone while going through the supermarket checkout, not letting other drivers merge in traffic and not giving a thank you wave when someone else lets you merge on the road.

“(We) asked them about the rudeness level of their city, including the prominence of certain typically rude behaviours, to help travellers determine what to expect when visiting,” Preply cultural director Amy Pritchett said.

“Neglecting to offer a guest a drink or something to eat at home was the least voted rude behaviour, highlighting the importance of hospitality in the culture,” Ms Pritchett said.

Overall, Australians scored a rudeness rating of 5.31 but three towns scored higher — all of them in Queensland.

Bundaberg topped the list with a score of 5.81, followed by Rockhampton on 5.79 and Brisbane on 5.58.

Adelaide was fourth with a score of 5.56 with Towoomba (again, Queensland) rounding out the top five.

So, what’s making Queenslanders so cranky?

The folks at Preply suggest the reason might be a by-product of the state having to deal with the “severe climate extremes” of floods and bushfires, which would be enough to put anyone in a bad mood.

Although, another Queensland region, the Sunshine Coast, topped the list of the most polite Aussie cities with a score of 4.58, so clearly more research is needed.

This article was originally published on heraldsun.com.au. It has been reproduced here with permission.