Best and Worst US accents?

As the title says, just out of curiosity I would like to know how you monkeys rank the US accents.

Due to my job, I've been dealing with ppl from the whole country. Yet, I'm struggling to understand the accent from countries like Utah, or Arizona.

I mean, I'm EU national living in the UK, but it's interesting to hear different accents and pronunciation Afaik Boston has the closer accent to the London area

44 Comments
 
"Real Marcus Halberstram" countries like Utah

I always imagined Utah being like an American Saudi Arabia, except Mormon.

All in all, in the large metro areas primarily in the north and west, it seems like people increasingly talk the same. You'd have to get further into the more rural parts of the country to see things. I like the Texan accent occasionally, but don't care much for the Deep South drawl. The Midwestern accent, especially around Minnesota seems pretty annoying too. Boston's working class accent is great for The Departed impersonations.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

lol Jim Gaffigan on the South

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
Most Helpful

The hardest for me to understand is heavy cajun accents from New Orleans. Its basically like Farmer Fran from the Waterboy to me.

Its funny though, my friend is from New Orleans and I visited him this spring; he can turn on/off the drawl. We went to this real cajun place in the middle of nowhere (http://bntcajuncookin.com/) and he switched on his accent strong to order food and stuff to the waitress.

She looked like a normal 22 year old cute american brunette server, but when she responded in complete cajun talk I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Honestly, that whole drawl is so funny to me. I get that it is normal for locals there, but really that accent probably one of the most indecipherable I have ever encountered in the US.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

This reminds me when I was a kid in the Vienna airport one time with my parents and was ordering dessert, the maybe 25 year old attractive Austrian server suggested "strudel" in such an insane guttural tone. Could have implied something else though...

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 
"REPE God" I have a slight southern accent, but I think people with strong southern accents sound uneducated.

Haha yeah I agree. This reminds me of one time when I was in the Registrar's office in college and I saw someone who was a year behind me walk in and was talking to the registrar about how certain courses would pave the path for Honor Grad (Valedictorian). I was thinking, sure buddy (with that slow drawl).

Well, he did get Valedictorian and now is a VP at JPM in IB. We became friends later that year as we both wanted to get on Wall Street. Its just funny how the mind works and how an accent and pace/rhythm of speech is cultivated differently according to region. Major deception at times.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Give me a southern accent on a woman any day. Boston and NY accents are huge boner killers, on the other hand.

Really though American accents don't vary nearly as much as a lot of other countries. Aside from maybe a deep Cajun accent as Isaiah mentioned they're all pretty easy to understand, we don't have any Mancunian or Scottish type accents. Plus most people in the west and midwest have a very neutral American accent. The only regional accents we even really have are southern (of which Cajun is an extreme subset), northeastern (Philly/NYC/Boston aren't identical but are similar), and the quasi-Canadian accent you'll find in places like Minnesota and Maine.

 

First, I want to say that all heavy accents make people sound uneducated and are generally annoying. With that said.....

Best: A cute chic with a subtle southern twang is always nice (not too much twang tho, that gets old REALLY quickly)

Worst: The Boston southie accent

Array
 

I gotta give it to the MN hockey moms (outside of the cities). That Fargo-esque accent combined with the most passive-aggressive attitude always gets me

Monkey see. Monkey Doo [Doo].
 

the worst is the valley accent or whatever accent where girls have an erratic fairly high pitched voice and talk as if someone sucked all the air out of their lungs. I always lose my mind whenever I heard someone talking like that

 

Guineas

I come from down in the valley, where mister when you're young, they bring you up to do like your daddy done
 

I generally feel like a lot of Americans don't have strong accents outside the Northeast/Deep South. The East Coast all sounds the same to me south of VA.

 

Do you guys notice a Chicago accent when you visit? I'm not even a native English speaker or a long-time Chicago resident and I don't notice anything anywhere I go. A little bit some older people in parts of the South Side with lots of Irish, but that's about it.

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 

You know who's the worst at that shit? Fucking Marc Maron. I just forgot his name for a minute and googled "most annoying comedians"

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 

Libero in eaque molestiae necessitatibus. Distinctio provident earum ipsam rerum impedit eveniet veniam. Laborum deleniti aut vitae quis earum aspernatur natus. Dolorum nobis ullam et. Officiis provident nemo veritatis sequi maiores cum. Aut sunt soluta at ipsum similique tempora dolore quis. Porro suscipit cum ab.

Maxime tenetur sint quia tenetur id sint vitae. Perspiciatis sed sit laudantium sequi. Consequatur culpa et et omnis ut non enim.

 

Reiciendis et aut corporis provident ipsam modi. Fuga itaque delectus eum sit dolore. Molestiae saepe nihil non doloribus aliquam non quis.

Placeat distinctio placeat eum. In dolorum autem rem quam dolores nisi. Voluptates est molestiae quos magni et recusandae adipisci. Blanditiis vero neque est qui sed nobis. Dolores sunt minus et porro beatae voluptatibus.

Nihil et nisi eos nam ea. Quibusdam est provident molestias ut voluptatibus aut. Est qui occaecati unde ut quibusdam vel laudantium. Molestiae et est est facilis est. Doloribus illum explicabo blanditiis at id et fugit. Perspiciatis rerum sit dolorum distinctio et et. Officiis qui ut et ipsa sed praesentium. Ut magnam omnis asperiores iure quidem harum dolorem.

Qui velit iusto quos veritatis perferendis quis reprehenderit. Numquam velit in nulla inventore. Veniam nostrum totam repellat ratione architecto nesciunt quibusdam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”