Here at OfferUp, community is at the heart of who we are. Our marketplace is built on the simple idea that good things happen when buyers and sellers act more like neighbors. In most cases, that means meeting locally, face-to-face, and building connections between people from different neighborhoods, backgrounds, or beliefs. 

A year and a half since the pandemic has shuttered our doors, 2021 has made many Americans rethink their ideas about community and belonging. During COVID-19, we consistently saw neighbors stepping up for one another in a time of need, demonstrating generosity and compassion for friends, family, and strangers.  As the world begins to open up and we begin to expand our social circle, community is even more important to Americans.  Whether it’s rekindling old relationships or establishing new ones, Americans right now are prioritizing connecting, following a year of social distancing. 

In honor of National Good Neighbor Day, we utilized data from OfferUp’s 56 million yearly users to understand better which communities have gone out of their way to support one another this past year and best demonstrate what it means to be a good neighbor in 2021.

The result is America’s 2021 Most Neighborly Cities and States. 

Our third annual report analyzes American cities and states across six key traits:  communicativeness, friendliness, generosity, honesty, punctuality and reliability. It then combines these factors for a comprehensive look at neighborliness across America. 

Whether you live in these communities or want to know what the locals are like in anticipation of your next vacation or move,  these are the places across the country earning their reputation for the meaningful interactions they’ve had with their neighbors over the past year. 

While our study finds that some cities and states certainly stand out from the rest, the capacity to demonstrate neighborliness is limitless. And we encourage you to practice the six tenets of neighborliness, no matter where your city or state ranks.

All 50 states have a high capacity to embody neighborliness, but only one can be crowned the most neighborly. To determine the state of neighborliness across America, we identified six essential ranking factors that epitomize what it means to be a good neighbor: communicativeness, friendliness, generosity, honesty, punctuality, and reliability. Then, utilizing ratings and post data from OfferUp's community of 56 million yearly users, cities and states were awarded points in each of these categories. The cities and states with the most combined points across the six categories were then named most neighborly.

The result? Washington soared above the rest. The “Evergreen State '' ranked number one in all six individual categories comprising neighborliness, earning it the title of America’s Most Neighborly State. This is the second year in a row Washington has taken the lead, with California following closely behind and maintaining its 2020 ranking as No. 2. Trailing behind Washington and California are Maryland, Illinois and New York. Maryland jumped from No. 7 in 2020 to No. 3, booting Illinois from its previous No. 3 rank. Meanwhile, New York is a newcomer to the list, securing its 2021 place as America’s fifth Most Neighborly State.

The most neighborly city in America also happens to be in America’s most neighborly state. Seattle-Tacoma, Washington took the title for America’s Most Neighborly City for the second year in a row.  Well-known for its breathtaking landscape, including the natural wonder Mt.  Rainer, and as a hub for international brands, Seattle-Tacoma’s locals play a big part in the city’s culture.  When looking at the six key factors comprising neighborliness, Seattle-Tacoma ranked No. 1. for generosity,  No. 2 for communicative, friendly, and honest, and No. 3 for punctuality. These rankings combined and averaged, led the Emerald City to take the title of America’s Most Neighborly City.

Not far behind Seattle-Tacoma is California’s San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose (No. 2) and Los Angeles (No. 3),  which both held their 2020 rankings for the second year in a row. Rounding out the top five is Florida’s Miami-Fort Lauderdale, ranking No. 4--a two-spot jump since its 2020 No. 6 ranking-- and Baltimore, Maryland at No. 5.

Communicativeness, friendliness, generosity, honesty, punctuality, and reliability are all factors that go hand-in-hand with building connections between people and trust in our communities. Yet, when looking at each of these factors individually, some cities stand out from the rest.

Alabama’s Birmingham-Anniston-Tuscaloosa ranked as the friendliest, most communicative, most reliable and most punctual city in America. Meanwhile,  Seattle-Tacoma ranked No. 1 for generosity, with the most free items listed on the marketplace this year.  Finally, two California metropolitan areas, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose and Los Angeles claimed top-5 spots across all six categories.

OfferUp’s Challenge

At OfferUp, our vision is to empower people to connect and prosper. We’re all neighbors, and great things happen when we spend more time getting to know one another. No matter where your city and state ranked, OfferUp challenges you to practice neighborliness every day because when one of us thrives, we all thrive.  So next time you open a door, take a minute to hold it open for the stranger a few steps behind you. Flash a smile to someone in the elevator. The best part of neighborliness is that it is infectious. Individually,  we hold the power to make a positive impact in our community. And collectively, we can create a ripple effect of change across America.

Methodology

OfferUp’s 2021 Good Neighbor Day Report analyzed internal data from OfferUp’s community of 56 million yearly users to determine the most neighborly cities and states in America. The data analyzed spans from August 2020 to July 2021. OfferUp facilitates millions of meet-ups and sales per year, and after each, both buyers and sellers can rate the quality of their experiences. OfferUp analyzed data across buyer/seller ratings of “communicative,” “friendly,” “item as described,” “on time” and “reliable.” OfferUp defined neighborliness as the combination of these five qualities plus generosity, which was measured by the number of local free postings per capita. OfferUp grouped cities by their Designated Market Area (DMA). To calculate city and state rank, the six metrics were weighted equally and averaged for a composite category of “neighborliness.”  Minimum usage and transaction thresholds were applied at the state and city level to ensure statistical relevance of the results. Collectively, the ratings activity of over 98% of OfferUp’s monthly active users are included by this methodology.