flyover states
Coasts consider inferior
Flyover states is a dismissive term for the middle portion of the United States—the vast interior between the East and West Coasts that coastal elites supposedly only see from airplane windows.
The phrase carries connotations of cultural irrelevance and economic backwardness, implying these regions lack the sophistication of major coastal cities.
Politicians only care about flyover states during election season.
The term is sometimes reclaimed by Midwesterners with ironic pride.
- KansasCentral American plains state
- South DakotaNorthern plains state
- IowaGreat Plains farming state
- NebraskaCentral plains state
- heartlandCentral region of significance
small town America · Main Street · cornfields · family farm · tractors · silos · prairie · perceptions · hinterlands · stereotypes · Rust Belt · Corn Belt · political polarization · Great Plains · middle of nowhere · open road · rural America · Americana
- HeartlandMidwest, Great Plains, cornfields, farms, farmhouses
- North American regionsprovinces, territories, regions, northeast, southeast
- long distancelong distance, long haul, cross-country, miles, mileage
flyover statescoastal states
Territories bordering the sea
coastal elites · East Coast · West Coast · New York · California
over, state, flyover, flies, flying, flyer, overfly, overflight, states