The 18 Best U.S. Cities for Bros
Bros? You’ve seen them. They’re everywhere these days. Typically white males between the ages of 16-25, bros are most frequently found chillaxing with other bros. Seemingly stuck in an awkward and extended puberty, these young men are easily identified by their shaved chests, perpetual posturing, and false bravado. Frequently found on college campuses, especially in fraternities or on lacrosse teams, bros enjoy hobbies like beer pong, tanning, flexing in photos, and popping the collar on their Polo shirt.
This modern day phenomenon is only growing, but we decided to find out where bros most frequently found? Estately scoured the country in search of the most ideal habitat for bros. We focused on cities with large college student bodies, reputations for partying, high cost of living, famous local bros, NCAA ranked lacrosse teams, and high numbers of white males. In the end, we came up with this list of The 18 U.S. Best Cities for Bros.
#18 — ORLANDO, FL
Comedian Daniel Tosh, bro culture’s most beloved TV bro, is a graduate of University of Central Florida in Orlando. The massive school is the second largest public university in America and Playboy Magazine’s #9 Party School. The sunny city is an ideal place to completely bro out, and even get a natural-looking tan and frosted tips. Whether tossing the frisbee around between classes or splashing each other in the Reflection Pond during Spirit Splash, this a great place for bros to be bros.
#17 — BETHLEHEM, PA
Bethlehem made the list primarily because a high school student there was hospitalized after suffering an allergic reaction from an overexposure of Axe Body Spray. However, oh little bro town of Bethlehem, you are much more than a toxic cloud of spray-on brodor. You are home to Lehigh University, a small school whose cultural life revolves around its fraternity scene, with a brolific 37% of male students in a fraternity. The lacrosse team was ranked 13th in the country last season and The Daily Beast considers it the #19 party school in America. Your caucasians are plentiful (65.4%), the marijuana abounds, and white baseball hats turned backwards can be seen all over campus.
#16 — NEW HAVEN, CT
Want to see a bunch of privileged young men with trust funds letting loose before they move on to doom both our political and banking system? Welcome to New Haven, home of Yale University, the Bro Capital of Connecticut. This elite Ivy League school won third place on GQ magazine’s list of Douchiest Colleges, is home to the NCAA #7 men’s lacrosse team, and James Franco is enrolled there as a PhD candidate.
#15 — OXFORD, MS
Some of the preppiest bros in America can be found in Oxford, Mississippi on the campus of Ole Miss. It’s tough keeping the chew spit off one’s pastel dress shirts, but these brofessionals class it up by tailgating with fine china. Ranked #3 Party School in America by Princeton Review, Ole Miss is 71.2% white, and its bros outnumber the ladies on campus. If you want to see Dixie dudes at their chillest, Oxford is your spot.
#14 — BOSTON, MA
Welcome to Laxachusetts, home of Boston, one of the most expensive college towns in America, and a city that’s central to the coming bro-pocalypse. Comedian Dane Cook grew up nearby, and the the city is home to bro band Dispatch, as well as New England Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski, the patron saint of bros. When Boston’s bros aren’t shaving their chests and getting swole at the gym, they’re busy spending their trust funds on Polo shirts and boat shoes. Pretty soon they’ll be feasting on Bronuts, a doughnut-burger made in Boston.
#13 — LAS VEGAS, NV
The City of Sin is the consumate bro paradise. There’s always a poker game, the booze flows freely, and the city tolerates to most vile and broish behavior. Bros are free to wear sunglasses at night, demean their cocktail server, and get matching tattoos that profess their undying loyalty for one another. Bryce Harper, a Major League Baseball player and a seriously major league bro, is from Las Vegas. Off the hook TV chef Guy Fieri, who taught bros that they can cook their own pizzas, is a graduate from UNLV. The one downside for Vegas is the temptation of its plentiful prostitutes, which threatens the misogynistic bro code, “Bros before hos.”
#12 — SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ
Multiple seasons of Jersey Shore were filmed in Seaside Heights, ensuring this town’s sadly permanent place on any bro list. However embarrassing this may be for the town, the rest of the country owes it a thank you for allowing the douchiest sides of bro culture to be exposed on national television. It’s a cautionary tale that will hopefully convince other young men to avoid falling into a bro crowd.
#11 — WASHINGTON, DC
Bro culture is an insular, male-dominated world where dudes live in a bubble of back-slapping and their own illusions. Disconnected from women, unaware of their own privilege, real bros are pretty much just like much of congress. So when bros eventually leave college, enter the world, and seek out familiar pasture where they can be their broest, they often head to Washington, DC. It’s a magical place where the rules mirror that of a frat, only the updated bro code is “donors before voters.” If you’re a bro aspiring to relocate to our nation’s capital, be on the lookout for Craigslist roommate ads targeted specifically to bros, like this one for a “renaissance bro.”
#10 — DURHAM, NC
If you have a Y chromosome, like to cover yourself in blue body paint, and your dad owns a car dealership, you may have it what it takes to move to Durham and join the ranks of Duke University’s legion of bros. The school’s student paper once had a column called Gossip Bro, Christian Laettner went there, and GQ magazine declared it the #2 Douchiest College in America.
#9 — AUSTIN, TX
No disrespect to College Station, Texas, which is loaded with good ol’ bros, but Austin makes the list because Hollywood’s ultimate bro, Matthew McConaughey, is a University of Texas grad and he frequently returns with his shaved chest to relive his broist days. Not only that, bros of all ages can be found roaming 6th street, happily high-fiving each other while downing shots of Jagermeister.
#8 — STATE COLLEGE, PA
State College is home to Penn State University’s—prime habitat for a large population of bromosapiens. The eighth largest 4-year university in the country, Happy Valley is a bros dream come true. The Daily Beast declared PSU the #2 Party School in America, tailgating goes on for days, and it has the #11 ranked NCAA men’s lacrosse team. Having a solid croquet team did the school no favors with GQ magazine, which ranked Penn State as the #2 Douchiest College in America. Certainly a high number of total bros helped them win that prize, but if you want to witness herds of bros roaming free and unencumbered, State College is a sweet spot.
#7 — CHICAGO, IL
Chicago has so many bros there’s an actual Meetup group called BroClub, to help lonely bros form solid bro packs. But to truly see the splendor of the area’s bros take a trip to the surrounding suburbs to witness bro-ness to the max. Load up on Four Loko (headquarters in Chicago) before setting out on a journey of broscovery. Visit the bro-laden burb of Lake Forest, hometown of total bro, Vince Vaughn. Perhaps bro actor Jeremy Piven could give you a tour of his hometown of Evanston, home to bro-heavy Northwestern University. The school is attended by Tom Hanks’ son, a frat boy and aspiring rapper who goes by Chet Haze. Wow, that’s the consumate bro move, bro.
#6 — SANTA BARBARA, CA
Want to witness bros on parade? There may be no better place in America than Santa Barbara, California. From State Street downtown to Del Playa Drive in Isla Vista, drunken bros can be seen strutting in packs, or cruising on longboards and beach cruisers. Be careful, these affluent young men often turn aggressive, requiring fellow bros to hold them back. University of California Santa Barbara has a substantial greek system and was ranked by Princeton Review as the #5 party school in the country. These curious creatures can be spotted late night at Freebirds World Burrito or in crowds of thousands on Halloween.
#5 — TEMPE, AZ
Want to see bros go wild? Take a trip to Tempe’s bro paradise of Arizona State University, the largest university in America and Princeton Review‘s #17 Party School. ASU is 52.1% male so bros will have lots of time to hang with their bros because there are fewer women to interact with. Tempe bro activities include chilling, getting tan by the pool, and coming up with new ways to ruin style trends created by urban street culture.
#4 — BOULDER, CO
Boulder provides a bro-friendly environment allowing for a “theme of bro chilling right now.” Clicking the image above to reveal just what that means. One of the most expensive college towns in America, privileged bros from affluent families make up a good part of student population at the University of Colorado Boulder. These bros are drawn by the “sweet pow pow” found at nearby ski resorts, the kind buds, and the promise of drunken shenanigans at The Daily Beast’s #3 Party School. Whether it’s sunny or snowy, these Boulder bros are always down to take off their shirts and wrestle each other.
#3 — GAINESVILLE, FL
Even though there’s a history of bros getting tased in Gainesville, this city is still a total brotopia. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte—who NPR declared the “ultimate bro”—somehow graduated from University of Florida in Gainesville. The sixth largest four-year university in America, UF is also GQ magazine’s #10 Douchiest College, Princeton Review‘s #9 Party School in America, and they have the #5 college wakeboarding team. As if that’s not enough, it was a UF student who popularized the phrase “Don’t tase me bro” when the video of him being tasered by police went viral.
#2 — COLUMBUS, OH
How did Columbus, home to Ohio State University, become the Second Most Bro City in America? Let us count the ways…
- Abercrombie & Fitch‘s headquarters are located in a Columbus suburb.
- 6th whitest city in America
- Four Loko was invented by three OSU grads
- The bro phenomenon has been studied at the University.
- Game day at Ohio Stadium is a prime spot to witness bros at their most obnoxious.
- OSU has a competitive waterskiing team
- There are so many bros. So many.
#1 — LOS ANGELES, CA
The Los Angeles area is one of the leading producers of bros in America. From San Bernardino to Orange County to Malibu, the area’s varied landscape is home to thousands of bros. Excessive wealth, acceptance of self-absorbed Hollywood types, and ample sunny days acts as bro incubator.
Wander the campuses of USC, UCLA, Pepperdine, Chapman University, and dozens of others and you’ll see bros tossing the disk around between classes or just cruising home on a longboard to play som flip cup. It’s way chill, bro.
The best example of locally-sourced bros are the legendary Laker Bros, two super-stoked dudes named Ryan and Brian who were seriously excited to see a Kobe Bryant firsthand. The Los Angeles area is truly the Bro Capital of America.
Did we get it wrong or leave a city out? Let us know in the comments.
