If your state had to be summed up by just one town - its accent, its quirks, its food, its humor, the very way it moves where would you point? Not the capital. Not the biggest city. But the place that locals say feels like us. That’s exactly what Mondly, a language learning platform, set out to uncover in a survey of 3,012 respondents. They asked, “Which town in your state best represents your cultural identity?”
The results spotlighted what we might call each state’s “spirit town” - the place that speaks your language, cooks your comfort food and lives by the rhythms that shaped you.
Texans’ top 3 choices were:
#1 SAN MARCOS
Part river town, part college town, San Marcos is a place where tubing on a Tuesday and philosophical debates over tacos can coexist. It’s laid-back but lively, full of music, history and a healthy disregard for formality. If Texas had a carefree side, San Marcos would be floating right down the middle of it.
#2 LUFKIN
East Texas to the core, Lufkin is all pine trees, prayer meetings and pickup trucks. There’s oil in its history, barbecue in its bones and high school football at the center of just about everything. It’s a town that says “yes ma’am” and means it - tough, proud, and deeply Texan.
#3 MARFA
Marfa is West Texas minimalism at its most mysterious. Art galleries share fences with cattle ranches, and tumbleweeds roll past Prada Marfa - an art installation styled like a boutique, standing surreal against the desert. The town feels cinematic: wide skies, empty roads and conversations that happen at the pace of dust. Outsiders come for the weirdness, but locals stay for the silence. This is Texas reimagined through desert light and stubborn independence. It’s not big, but it’s bold. And like the landscape around it, it leaves space for whatever story you bring with you.
Some choices from other states were:
BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY
Blunt, loyal, and always ready to tell you where to get the best sub - Bayonne couldn’t be more Jersey if it tried. It’s rowhouses, corner stores and neighbors who’ve known your family since kindergarten. Scratch the tough surface and there’s a heart under there. A lot of it.
BROOKSVILLE, FLORIDA
It’s a bit of a surprise Floridians didn’t pick a beach city like Miami. Brooksville, up in Hernando County, is Florida in its raw, rugged form - oak trees, Spanish moss, backyard grills and a lifestyle that doesn’t need gloss to shine. It’s the kind of place where locals measure time in county fairs and high school football seasons.
BLUEFIELD, WEST VIRGINIA Set deep in the hills, Bluefield carries the soul of southern West Virginia - coal town resilience and a kind of pride you don’t learn, you inherit. People here don’t leave. Or if they do, they find their way back. And that says everything.
COOKEVILLE, TENNESSEE
In the heart of Tennessee sits Cookeville - part college town, part craft town, all charm. It’s got just enough twang, a porch swing pace, and plenty of ambition humming behind its cafes and workshops. If Tennessee had a middle name, it might just be Cookeville.
“These towns aren’t always the flashiest or the most visited, but they’re where culture is lived, not just performed. They reflect how people talk, what they celebrate and how they show up for each other. That’s what makes them powerful symbols of identity,” a language specialist at Mondly said.
