:Culture of the United States

{{Main|Cultural history of the United States}}

File:Albert_Bierstadt_-_The_Rocky_Mountains,_Lander's_Peak.jpg (1863) by Albert Bierstadt, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan]]

The European roots of the United States originate with the English and Spanish settlers of colonial North America during British and Spanish rule. The varieties of English people, as opposed to the other peoples on the British Isles, were the overwhelming majority ethnic group in the 17th century (the population of the colonies in 1700 was 250,000) and were 47.9% of percent of the total population of 3.9 million. They constituted 60% of the whites at the first census in 1790 (%: 3.5 Welsh, 8.5 Scotch Irish, 4.3 Scots, 4.7 Irish, 7.2 German, 2.7 Dutch, 1.7 French, and 2 Swedish).The American Revolution, Colin Bonwick, 1991, p. 254 The English ethnic group contributed to the major cultural and social mindset and attitudes that evolved into the American character. Of the total population in each colony, they numbered from 30% in Pennsylvania to 85% in Massachusetts.Becoming America, Jon Butler, 2000, pp. 9–11 Large non-English immigrant populations from the 1720s to 1775, such as the Germans (100,000 or more), Scotch Irish (250,000), added enriched and modified the English cultural substrate.The Encyclopedia of Colonial and Revolutionary America, Ed. John Mack Faragher, 1990, pp. 200–202

Jeffersonian democracy was a foundational American cultural innovation, which is still a core part of the country's identity.[https://books.google.com/books?id=nf22_zMVdqsC "Mr. Jefferson and the giant moose: natural history in early America"], Lee Alan Dugatkin. University of Chicago Press, 2009. {{ISBN|0-226-16914-6}}, {{ISBN|978-0-226-16914-9}}. University of Chicago Press, 2009. Chapter x. Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia was perhaps the first influential domestic cultural critique by an American and was written in reaction to the views of some influential Europeans that America's native flora and fauna (including humans) were degenerate.

File:Betsy_Ross_sewing.jpg was an American upholsterer who was credited by her relatives in 1870 with making the first American flag.]]

Non-indigenous cultural influences have been brought by historical immigration, especially from Germany in much of the country,{{cite book|last=Kirschbaum|first=Erik|title=The eradication of German culture in the United States, 1917–1918|year=1986|publisher=H.-D. Heinz|isbn=978-3-88099-617-5|page=155|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JvUMAQAAMAAJ}} Ireland and Italy in the Northeast, and Japan in Hawaii. Latin American culture is especially pronounced in former Spanish areas but has also been introduced by immigration, as have Asian American cultures (especially in the Northeast and West Coast regions). Caribbean culture has been increasingly introduced by immigration and is pronounced in many urban areas. Since the abolition of slavery, the Caribbean has been the source of the earliest and largest Black immigrant group, a significant source of growth of the Black population in the U.S. and has made major cultural impacts in education, music, sports and entertainment.{{cite web|last=Fraizer|first=Martin|title=Continuity and change in Caribbean immigration|date=July 8, 2005|url=http://www.peoplesworld.org/continuity-and-change-in-caribbean-immigration/|publisher=People's World|access-date=6 May 2014}}

Indigenous cultures remains strong in both reservation and urban communities, including traditional government and communal organization of property now legally managed by Indian reservations (large reservations are mostly in the West, especially Oklahoma, Arizona and South Dakota). The fate of indigenous cultures after contact with Europeans is quite varied. For example, Taíno culture in U.S. Caribbean territories is undergoing cultural revitalization and, like many Native American languages, the Taíno language is no longer spoken. By contrast, the Hawaiian language and culture of the Native Hawaiians has survived in Hawaii alongside that of immigrants from the mainland U.S. (starting before the 1898 annexation) and to some degree Asian immigrants. Indigenous Hawaiian influences on mainstream American culture include surfing and Hawaiian shirts. Most languages native to what is now U.S. territory are endangered.{{Cite web |title=Preserving Native Languages: No Time to Waste |url=https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ana/preserving-native-languages-article |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=www.acf.hhs.gov |language=en}}

File:Welcome to the land of freedom.png arriving in New York City by ship in the late 19th century and early 20th century]]

American culture includes both conservative and liberal elements, scientific and religious competitiveness, political structures, risk taking and free expression, materialist and moral elements. Despite certain consistent ideological principles (e.g. individualism, egalitarianism, and faith in freedom and republicanism), American culture has a variety of expressions due to its geographical scale and demographics.McDonald, James (2010) Interplay:Communication, Memory, and Media in the United States. Goettingen: Cuvillier, p. 120. {{ISBN|3-86955-322-7}}.

As a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, the U.S. has been shaped by the world's largest immigrant population. The country is home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values,{{cite book |last1=Adams |first1=J.Q. |title=Dealing with diversity : the anthology |last2=Strother-Adams |first2=Pearlie |date=2001 |publisher=Kendall/Hunt Pub |isbn=978-0-7872-8145-8 |location=Chicago}}{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=William E. |title=Society in focus : an introduction to sociology |last2=Hickey |first2=Joseph V. |date=2004 |publisher=Pearson/Allyn and Bacon |isbn=978-0-205-41365-2 |edition=5th |location=Boston}} and exerts major cultural influence on a global scale, with the phenomenon being termed Americanization.{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/stream/americanizationo01stea#page/392/mode/2up | title=The Americanization of the World | publisher=Horace Markley | author=Stead, W. T. | year=1901 | page=393}}{{Cite journal |last=Berghahn |first=Volker R. |date=2010-02-01 |title=The debate on 'Americanization' among economic and cultural historians |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14682740903388566 |journal=Cold War History |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=107–130 |doi=10.1080/14682740903388566 |s2cid=144459911 |issn=1468-2745|url-access=subscription }}

File:Census Regions and Division of the United States.svg]]

According to cultural geographer Colin Woodward there are as many as eleven cultural areas of the United States, which spring from their settlement history. In the east, from north to south: there are Puritan areas ("Yankeedom") of New England which spread across the northern Great Lakes to the northern reaches of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers; the New Netherlands area in the densely populated New York metropolitan area; the Midland area which spread from Pennsylvania to the lower Great Lakes and the trans-Mississippi upper midwest; Greater Appalachia which angles from West Virginia through the lower midwest and upper-south to trans-Mississippi Arkansas, and southern Oklahoma; the Deep South from the Carolinas to Florida and west to Texas. In the west, there is the southwestern "El Norte" areas originally colonized by Spain, the "Left Coast" colonized quickly on the 19th century by a mix of Yankees and upper Appalachians, and the large but sparsely populated interior West.{{Cite book |last=Woodard |first=Colin |title=American Nations: a history of the eleven rival regional cultures of North America |date=2012 |publisher=Penguin books |isbn=978-0-670-02296-0 |series=A Penguin book History |location=New York}}{{Cite web |title=A Balkanized Federation |url=https://nationhoodlab.org/a-balkanized-federation/ |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Nationhood Lab |language=en-US}}

The South is sometimes informally called the "Bible Belt" due to socially conservative evangelical Protestantism, which is a significant part of the region's culture. Christian church attendance across all denominations is generally higher there than the national average. This region is usually contrasted with the mainline Protestantism and Catholicism of the Northeast, the religiously diverse Midwest and Great Lakes, the Mormon Corridor in Utah and southern Idaho, and the relatively secular West. The percentage of non-religious people is the highest in the northeastern and New England state of Vermont at 34%, compared to 6% in the Bible Belt state of Alabama.{{cite web|title=American Religious Identification Survey |work=gc.cuny.edu |url=http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/key_findings.htm#StateFaith |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709082644/http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/key_findings.htm |archive-date=July 9, 2011}}

Strong cultural differences have a long history in the U.S., with the southern slave society in the antebellum period serving as a prime example. Social and economic tensions between the Northern and Southern states were so severe that they eventually caused the South to declare itself an independent nation, the Confederate States of America; thus initiating the American Civil War.{{cite book|last1=Hine|first1=Darlene|first2=William C. |last2=Hine |first3=Stanley |last3=Harrold |year=2006|title=The African American Odyssey|publisher=Pearson|location=Boston, MA}}

• Culture of New England
• Culture of the Southern United States
• Culture of the Midwest
• Culture of Western United States
• Appalachian Culture

{{Main|Languages of the United States}}

File: US flag reflexion on Vietnam Veterans Memorial 12 2011 000124.JPG with American flag]]

More than 300 languages nationwide, and up to 800 languages in New York City, besides English, have native speakers in the United States—some are spoken by indigenous peoples (about 150 living languages) and others imported by immigrants. English is not the first language of most immigrants in the US, though many do arrive knowing how to speak it, especially from countries where English is broadly used.Gambino, Christine P., Yesenia D. Acosta, and Elizabeth M. Grieco. 2018 August 3. "[https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2014/acs/acs-26.html English-Speaking Ability of the Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125173821/https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2014/acs/acs-26.html|date=January 25, 2021}}" (revised). U.S. Census Bureau. This not only includes immigrants from countries such as Canada, Jamaica, and the UK, where English is the primary language, but also countries where English is an official language, such as India, Nigeria, and the Philippines.

According to the 2000 census, there were nearly 30 million native speakers of Spanish in the United States. Spanish has official status in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, where it is the primary language spoken, and the state of New Mexico; numerous Spanish enclaves exist around the country as well.{{cite web

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|title=Selected Social Characteristics in the United States: 2007

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{{Main|Cuisine of the United States}}

Iconic American dishes such as apple pie, donuts, fried chicken, American pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants and domestic innovations.{{cite web |author=The CHOW Editorial Team |date=June 19, 2008 |title=The Hamburger Through Time |url=http://www.chow.com/food-news/54564/the-hamburger-through-time/ |access-date=April 16, 2012 |publisher=CBS INTERACTIVE INC. |archive-date=April 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120430165224/http://www.chow.com/food-news/54564/the-hamburger-through-time/ |url-status=dead }}[http://newswise.com/articles/view/542787/ Glazed America: Anthropologist Examines Doughnut as Symbol of Consumer Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122195050/http://newswise.com/articles/view/542787|date=January 22, 2009}} Newswise, Retrieved on July 22, 2008. French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are consumed.{{cite web |author=Klapthor, James N. |date=August 23, 2003 |title=What, When, and Where Americans Eat in 2003 |url=http://www.ift.org/cms/?pid=1000496 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20080418181548/http://www.ift.org/cms/?pid=1000496 |archive-date=April 18, 2008 |access-date=2007-06-19 |publisher=Institute of Food Technologists}}File:The First Thanksgiving cph.3g04961.jpg (1899)]]The types of food served at home vary greatly and depend upon the region of the country and the family's own cultural heritage. Recent immigrants tend to eat food similar to that of their country of origin, and Americanized versions of these cultural foods, such as Chinese American cuisine or Italian American cuisine often eventually appear. Vietnamese cuisine, Korean cuisine, and Thai cuisine in authentic forms are often readily available in large cities. German cuisine has a profound impact on American cuisine, especially Midwestern cuisine; potatoes, noodles, roasts, stews, cakes, and other pastries are the most iconic ingredients in both cuisines.{{cite book | last1 =Adams | first1 =J.Q. |first2=Pearlie |last2=Strother-Adams | year =2001 | title =Dealing with Diversity | publisher=Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company | location =Chicago, IL | isbn = 978-0-7872-8145-8}} Dishes such as the hamburger, pot roast, baked ham, and hot dogs are examples of American dishes derived from German cuisine.{{cite web |title=History of the hot dog |url=http://www.hot-dog.org/hd/hd_history.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018070129/http://www.hot-dog.org/hd/hd_history.htm |archive-date=October 18, 2006 |access-date=2006-11-13}}{{cite web |title=History of the Hamburger |url=http://www.ahamburgertoday.com/archives/2005/08/the_history_of.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061121121752/http://www.ahamburgertoday.com/archives/2005/08/the_history_of.php |archive-date=November 21, 2006 |access-date=2006-11-13}}

File:Motherhood and apple pie.jpg is one of a number of American cultural icons.]]Americans generally prefer coffee over tea, and more than half the adult population drinks at least one cup of coffee per day.{{cite web |date=May 2003 |title=Coffee Today |url=https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/guatemala.mexico/facts.html#02 |access-date=2007-06-19 |work=Coffee Country |publisher=PBS}} Marketing by U.S. industries is largely responsible for making orange juice and milk (now often fat-reduced) ubiquitous breakfast beverages.Smith, Andrew F. (2004). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 131–32. {{ISBN|0-19-515437-1}}. Levenstein, Harvey (2003). Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, pp. 154–55. {{ISBN|0-520-23439-1}}. {{cite web |author=Pirovano, Tom |year=2007 |title=Health & Wellness Trends—The Speculation Is Over |url=http://us.acnielsen.com/pubs/2006_q1_ci_health.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807134511/http://us.acnielsen.com/pubs/2006_q1_ci_health.shtml |archive-date=August 7, 2007 |access-date=2007-06-12 |publisher=AC Nielsen}} During the 1980s and 1990s, the caloric intake of Americans rose by 24%; and frequent dining at fast food outlets is associated with what health officials call the American "obesity epidemic". Highly sweetened soft drinks are popular; sugared beverages account for 9% of the average American's daily caloric intake.{{cite journal |last1=Isganaitis |first1=Elvira |last2=Lustig |first2=Robert H. |year=2005 |title=Fast Food, Central Nervous System Insulin Resistance, and Obesity |url=http://atvb.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/25/12/2451#R3-101329 |journal=Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology |publisher=American Heart Association |volume=25 |issue=12 |pages=2451–2462 |doi=10.1161/01.ATV.0000186208.06964.91 |pmid=16166564 |access-date=2007-06-09 |doi-access=free}} {{cite web |title=Let's Eat Out: Americans Weigh Taste, Convenience, and Nutrition |url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib19/eib19_reportsummary.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420143105/http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib19/eib19_reportsummary.pdf |archive-date=April 20, 2015 |access-date=2007-06-09 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Agriculture}}

The American fast food industry, the world's first and largest, is also often viewed as being a symbol of U.S. marketing dominance. Companies such as McDonald's,Karen DeBres, "A Cultural Geography of McDonald's UK," Journal of Cultural Geography, 2005 Burger King, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Domino's Pizza among others, have numerous outlets around the world,{{cite news|title=Why McDonald's in France Doesn't Feel Like Fast Food|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/01/24/145698222/why-mcdonalds-in-france-doesnt-feel-like-fast-food|last1=Breadsley|first1=Eleanor|website=NPR|date=January 24, 2012|access-date=January 15, 2015}} and pioneered the drive-through format in the 1940s.{{cite web|title=When Was the First Drive-Thru Restaurant Created?|url=https://www.wisegeek.org/when-was-the-first-drive-thru-restaurant-created.htm|website=Wisegeek.org|access-date=January 15, 2015}}

File:Thanksgiving Dinner Alc2.jpg|Traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce

File:Fried Chicken (Unsplash).jpg|Fried chicken, a southern dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and deep fried

File:Dennysbreakfast.jpg|American style breakfast with pancakes, maple syrup, sausage links, bacon strips, and fried eggs

File:BBQ Pulled Pork.jpg|A barbecue pulled-pork sandwich with a side of coleslaw

File:Apple cobbler.jpg|An apple cobbler dessert

{{Main|Sports in the United States}}

File:2007 Texas Longhorns football team entry.jpg season is a major part of American pastime. Massive marching bands, cheerleaders, and colorguard are common at American football games.]]

File:LA_Coliseum_Dec_23_2022.jpg will become the first stadium to have hosted the Summer Olympics three times when it hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics.{{cite web|url=http://news.usc.edu/135477/united-airlines-memorial-coliseum-to-be-new-name-for-l-a-landmark/|title=United Airlines Memorial Coliseum to be new name for L.A. landmark|first= Ron |last=Mackovich |date=January 29, 2018|website=USC News}}]]

In the 1800s, colleges were encouraged to focus on intramural sports, particularly track and field, and, in the late 1800s, American football. Physical education was incorporated into primary school curriculums in the 20th century.{{cite web |title=Brief History of Physical Education |url=http://www.excite.com/education/subject/brief-history-of-physical-education |access-date=May 31, 2015 |website=Excite.com |archive-date=March 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190316101041/http://excite.com/education/subject/brief-history-of-physical-education |url-status=dead }}

File:Typical baseball game.JPG as seen from the stadium]]

Baseball is the oldest of the major American team sports. Professional baseball dates from 1869 and had no close rivals in popularity until the 1960s. Though baseball is no longer the most popular sport,{{cite web |title=Poll: Adults who follow at least one sport |url=http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NewsRoom/HarrisPolls/tabid/447/mid/1508/articleId/675/ctl/ReadCustom%20Default/Default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111029030847/http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NewsRoom/HarrisPolls/tabid/447/mid/1508/articleId/675/ctl/ReadCustom%20Default/Default.aspx |archive-date=October 29, 2011 |access-date=November 5, 2011 |work=Harris Interactive}} it is still referred to as "the national pastime".

Ice hockey is the fourth-leading professional team sport. Always a mainstay of Great Lakes and New England-area culture, the sport gained tenuous footholds in regions like the American South since the early 1990s, as the National Hockey League pursued a policy of expansion.{{cite web |date=May 19, 2011 |title=Raw Numbers: The NHL's Impact on the South |url=http://unitedstatesofhockey.com/2011/05/19/raw-numbers-the-nhls-impact-on-the-south/ |access-date=2012-06-05 |publisher=The United States of Hockey}}

Soccer is very popular as a participation sport, particularly among youth, and the US national teams are competitive internationally. A twenty-six-team (with four more confirmed to be added within the next few years) professional league, Major League Soccer, plays from March to October, but its television audience and overall popularity lag behind other American professional sports.{{cite news |title=Soccer will never be America's sport |work=USA Today |url=http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/07/soccer-will-never-be-americas-sport/}}

Relative to other parts of the world, the United States is unusually competitive in women's sports, a fact usually attributed to the Title IX anti-discrimination law, which requires most American colleges to give equal funding to men's and women's sports.{{cite news |date=August 12, 2012 |title=Amid 40th anniversary of Title IX, women set a new standard in London |work=CNN |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/2012/writers/ann_killion/08/12/2012-olympics-women-title-ix/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203005919/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/2012/writers/ann_killion/08/12/2012-olympics-women-title-ix/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 3, 2013}}

{{Main|Public holidays in the United States}}

File:New Year Ball Drop Event for 2012 at Times Square.jpg in Midtown Manhattan is the world's most famous location for New Year's celebrations, with the annual ball drop.]]

The United States observes holidays derived from events in American history, Christian traditions, and national patriarchs.

{{Main|Naming in the United States|African-American names}}

Creativity has also long been a part of American naming traditions and names have been used to express personality, cultural identity, and values.{{cite journal |last=Larson |first=Carlton F.W. |date=November 2011 |title=Naming Baby: The Constitutional Dimensions of Naming Rights |url=http://www.gwlr.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/80-1-Larson.pdf |journal=George Washington Law Review |volume=80 |issue=1}}{{cite book |last=Wattenberg |first=Laura |url=https://archive.org/details/babynamewizardma0000watt |title=The Baby Name Wizard, Revised 3rd Edition: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby |date=May 7, 2013 |publisher=Harmony |isbn=978-0770436476 |url-access=registration}} Naming trends vary by race, geographic area, and socioeconomic status. African Americans, for instance, have developed a very distinct naming culture. Both religious names and those inspired by popular culture are common.{{cite book |last=Rosenkrantz |first=Linda |title=Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana: What to Name Your Baby Now |date=August 29, 2006 |publisher=St. Martin's Press}}

{{Main|Fashion in the United States}}

File:Carolina Herrera AW14 12.jpg fashion models on the catwalk during New York Fashion Week]]Blue jeans were popularized as work clothes in the 1850s by merchant Levi Strauss, a German-Jewish immigrant in San Francisco, and adopted by many American teenagers a century later. They are worn in every state by people of all ages and social classes. Along with mass-marketed informal wear in general, blue jeans are arguably one of US culture's primary contributions to global fashion.Davis Fred (1992). Fashion, Culture, and Identity

The annual Met Gala in Manhattan is known worldwide as "fashion's biggest night".{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/met-gala-2023-red-carpet/|title=Met Gala 2023: Fashion's biggest night honors Karl Lagerfeld|author=Ali Bauman|publisher=CBS News|date=May 1, 2023|access-date=August 13, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/met-gala-2024-how-to-watch|title=Met Gala 2024: How to Watch Fashion's Biggest Night|publisher=Glamour|date=April 29, 2024|access-date=August 13, 2024}}

{{Main|Nuclear family|Family structure in the United States}}

Family arrangements in the United States reflect the nature of contemporary American society. The classic nuclear family is a man and a woman, united in marriage, with one or more biological children.{{Cite web |title=The nuclear family is still indispensable |url=https://www.aei.org/op-eds/the-nuclear-family-is-still-indispensable/ |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=American Enterprise Institute |language=en-US}} Today, a person may grow up in a single-parent family, go on to marry and live in a childfree couple arrangement, then get divorced, live as a single for a couple of years, remarry, have children and live in a nuclear family arrangement.{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Brian |title=Marriages, Families & Intimate Relationships |first2=Stacey C. |last2=Sawyer |first3=Carl M. |last3=Wahlstrom |publisher=Pearson |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-205-36674-3 |location=Boston, MA}}

Exceptions to the longstanding American custom of leaving home when one reaches legal adulthood at age eighteen can occur especially among Italian and Hispanic Americans, and in expensive urban real estate markets such as New York City,[http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/NY-New-York-Pricing.html New York apartments pricing and New York NY apartment reviews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221112120/http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/NY-New-York-Pricing.html|date=December 21, 2010}} Apartment Ratings California,[http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/CA-San-Francisco-Pricing.html San Francisco apartments pricing and San Francisco CA apartment reviews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707151814/http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/CA-San-Francisco-Pricing.html|date=July 7, 2011}} Apartment Ratings and Honolulu.{{cite web |title=Honolulu apartments pricing and Honolulu HI apartment reviews |url=http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/HI-Honolulu-Pricing.html |access-date=2012-06-03 |website=Apartmentratings.com}}

{{Main|Marriage in the United States|Divorce in the United States}}

{{See also|Cohabitation in the United States}}

File:Marilyn Monroe and Jerry Giesler 3.jpg signing divorce papers with celebrity attorney Jerry Giesler]]

State law provides for child support where children are involved, and sometimes for alimony. "Married adults now divorce two-and-a-half times as often as adults did 20 years ago and four times as often as they did 50 years ago... between 40% and 60% of new marriages will eventually end in divorce. The probability within... the first five years is 20%, and the probability of its ending within the first 10 years is 33%... Perhaps 25% of children (ages 16 and under) live with a stepparent."Brian K. Williams, Stacy C. Sawyer, Carl M. Wahlstrom, Marriages, Families & Intimate Relationships, 2005

{{See also|Suburbanization|The American Dream|White flight}}

File:831Richland.jpg was a popular house style from the late 19th century until the 1930s.]]

American cities with housing prices near the national median have also been losing the middle income neighborhoods, those with median income between 80% and 120% of the metropolitan area's median household income. Here, the more affluent members of the middle-class, who are also often referred to as being professional or upper-middle-class, have left in search of larger homes in more exclusive suburbs. This trend is largely attributed to the middle-class squeeze, which has caused a starker distinction between the statistical middle class and the more privileged members of the middle class.{{cite news |last=Harden |first=Blaine |date=June 22, 2006 |title=Washington Post, America is losing its middle-income neighborhoods |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/21/AR2006062101735.html |access-date=2006-07-25}} In more expensive areas such as California, however, another trend has been taking place where an influx of more affluent middle-class households has displaced those in the actual middle of society and converted former American middle-middle-class neighborhoods into upper-middle-class neighborhoods.{{cite news |last=Harden |first=Blaine |date=June 22, 2006 |title=Washington Post, America is losing its middle income neighborhoods. |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/21/AR2006062101735.html |access-date=2006-07-25}}

Alexis de Tocqueville first noted, in 1835, the American attitude towards helping others in need. A 2011 Charities Aid Foundation study found that Americans were the first most willing to help a stranger and donate time and money in the world at 60%. Many low-level crimes are punished by assigning hours of "community service", a requirement that the offender perform volunteer work.{{Cite news |last=Crary |first=David |date=September 9, 2010 |title=Study finds Americans in generous mood |pages=1A |publisher=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |url=http://silentrebellion.newsvine.com/_news/2010/09/09/5079433-11-most-generous-countries-of-2010}}

{{Further|History of United States drug prohibition}}

{{More citations needed section|date=October 2012}}

File:5 Prohibition Disposal(9) (cropped).jpg in 1921]]

American attitudes towards drugs and alcoholic beverages have evolved considerably throughout the country's history. In the 19th century, alcohol was readily available and consumed, and no laws restricted the use of other drugs. Attitudes on drug addiction started to change, resulting in the Harrison Act, which eventually became proscriptive.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

A movement to ban alcoholic beverages called the Temperance movement, emerged in the late 19th century. Several American Protestant religious groups and women's groups, such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union, supported the movement. In 1919, Prohibitionists succeeded in amending the Constitution to prohibit the sale of alcohol. Although the Prohibition period did result in a 50% decrease in alcohol consumption,{{Cite web |date=April 28, 2021 |title=US drinking more now than just before Prohibition |url=https://apnews.com/article/public-health-health-statistics-health-us-news-ap-top-news-f1f81ade0748410aaeb6eeab7a772bf7 |website=Associated Press}} banning alcohol outright proved to be unworkable, as the previously legitimate distillery industry was replaced by criminal gangs that trafficked in alcohol.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

A "Just Say No to Drugs" movement replaced the more liberal ethos of the 1960s. This led to stricter drug laws and greater police latitude in drug cases. Drugs are, however, widely available, and 16% of Americans 12 and older used an illicit drug in 2012.{{cite web |title=National Survey of Drug Use and Health |url=http://www.drugabuse.gov/national-survey-drug-use-health |access-date=November 24, 2013}}

{{Main|Architecture of the United States}}

File:EmpireStateNewYokCity.jpg in Lower Manhattan (background, seen under construction) surpassed the height of the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan (foreground) on April 30, 2012.]]

Architecture in the United States is regionally diverse and has been shaped by many external forces. U.S. architecture can therefore be said to be eclectic.Dell Upton. 1998. Architecture in the United States. pp. 11 ff. {{ISBN|0-19-284217-X}} Traditionally American architecture has influences from English architecture{{Cite web|title=Explore by Timeline: Colonial America and the Revolution (1565–1783)|url=https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/historic-preservation/explore-historic-buildings/explore-by-timeline/explore-by-timeline-colonial-america-and-the-revolution-15651783|access-date=2021-10-18|website=www.gsa.gov|language=en-us}} to Greco Roman architecture.{{Cite web|title=Greek and Roman Influences on Washington, D.C. Architecture|url=https://www.milrose.com/insights/greek-and-roman-influences-on-washington-d.c.-architecture|access-date=2021-10-18|website=www.milrose.com|language=en}}

{{Main|Theater of the United States|Broadway theatre}}

Theater of the United States is based in the Western tradition. The United States originated stand-up comedy and modern improvisational theatre, which involves taking suggestions from the audience.

The minstrel show, though now widely recognized as racist and offensive, is also recognized as the first uniquely American theatrical art form. Minstrel shows were developed in the 19th century and they were typically performed by white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of imitating and caricaturing the speech and music of African Americans. Stephen Foster was a famous composer for minstrel shows. Many of his songs such as "Camptown Races", "Oh Susanna", and "My Old Kentucky Home" became popular American folk songs. Tap dancing and stand-up comedy have origins in minstrel shows.[https://www.britannica.com/art/minstrel-show minstrel show] Retrieved 6 June 2023

Banjos, originally hand-made by slaves for entertainment on plantations, began to be mass-produced in the United States in the 1840s as a result of their extensive use on the minstrel stage.{{cite web | website = balladofamerica.org | title=Banjo: A Brief History | first = Matthew | last = Sabatella | url = https://balladofamerica.org/banjo/ | access-date = 1 May 2023 | quote = William Boucher, Jr., the earliest known commercial manufacturer, started building banjos around 1845 from his shop in Baltimore, Maryland.}}

File:Lincoln Center Overview (48047495362).jpg, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, hosts the David H. Koch Theater (left), the Metropolitan Opera House (center), and David Geffen Hall (right), surrounding the Revson Fountain.]]

Social commentary has also been a preoccupation of American theater, often addressing issues not discussed in the mainstream. Writers such as Lorraine Hansbury, August Wilson, David Mamet and Tony Kushner have all won Pulitzer Prizes for their polemical plays on American society.[https://www.britannica.com/art/theatre-art theatre-art] Retrieved 6 June 2023

{{Main|Music of the United States|Music history of the United States}}

{{See also|Category:American singers|List of American composers}}

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American music styles and influences (such as country, jazz, blues, rock, pop, techno, soul, and hip hop) and music based on them can be heard all over the world. Music in the U.S. is very diverse, and the country has the world's largest music market with a total retail value of $4.9 billion in 2014.{{cite web |url=http://www.riaj.or.jp/riaj/pdf/issue/industry/RIAJ2015E.pdf|title=RIAJ Yearbook 2015: IFPI 2013, 2014 Report: 28. Global Sales of Recorded Music (Page 24)|publisher=Recording Industry Association of Japan|access-date=2016-03-20}}

The rhythmic and lyrical styles of African-American music have significantly influenced American music at large, distinguishing it from European and African traditions. The Smithsonian Institution states, "African-American influences are so fundamental to American music that there would be no American music without them."{{cite web |title=Musical Crossroads: African American Influence on American Music |url=https://music.si.edu/story/musical-crossroads |website=Smithsonian |date=22 September 2016 |access-date=April 14, 2023}} Country music developed in the 1920s, and rhythm and blues in the 1940s. Elements from folk idioms such as the blues and what is known as old-time music were adopted and transformed into popular genres with global audiences. Jazz was developed by innovators such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington early in the 20th century.{{cite book|last1=Biddle|first1=Julian|title=What Was Hot!: Five Decades of Pop Culture in America|date=2001|publisher=Citadel|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8065-2311-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/whatwashotroller00bidd/page/ ix]|url=https://archive.org/details/whatwashotroller00bidd/page/}} Known for singing in a wide variety of genres, Aretha Franklin is considered one of the all-time greatest American singers.{{cite web |title=Why Aretha was the greatest singer in US history |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180816-aretha-greatest-singer-in-us-history |website=BBC |access-date=April 14, 2023}}

Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and Little Richard were among the pioneers of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. Rock bands such as Metallica, the Eagles, and Aerosmith are among the highest grossing in worldwide sales.{{cite web|last1=Hartman|first1=Graham|title=Metallica's 'Black album' is Top-Selling Disc of last 20 years|url=https://loudwire.com/metallica-black-album-top-selling-disc-last-20-years/|website=Loudwire|access-date=October 12, 2015|date=January 5, 2012}}{{cite news|last1=Vorel|first1=Jim|title=Eagles tribute band landing at Kirkland|url=https://herald-review.com/entertainment/local/eagles-tribute-band-landing-at-kirkland/article_a8dcd506-08d0-11e2-82ac-001a4bcf887a.html|access-date=October 12, 2015|agency=Herald & Review|date=September 27, 2012}}{{cite news|title=Aerosmith will rock Salinas with July concert|url=https://www.ksbw.com/news/central-california/salinas/aerosmith-will-rock-salinas-with-july-concert/31042330|access-date=October 12, 2015|date=February 2, 2015}} In the 1960s, Bob Dylan emerged from the folk revival to become one of America's most celebrated songwriters.{{cite magazine |date=April 10, 2020 |title=No. 1 Bob Dylan |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/interactive/lists-100-greatest-songwriters/#bob-dylan |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=January 29, 2021}}

American popular music, as part of the wider U.S. pop culture, has a worldwide influence and following.{{cite book |author=Ewen, David |url=https://archive.org/details/panoramaofameric00ewen |title=Panorama of American Popular Music |publisher=Prentice Hall |year=1957 |isbn=0-13-648360-7 |url-access=registration}} pg. 3 Of all the contributions made by Americans to world culture—automation and the assembly line, advertising, innumerable devices and gadgets, skyscrapers, supersalesmen, baseball, ketchup, mustard and hot dogs and hamburrgers—one, undeniably native has been taken to heart by the entire world. It is American popular music. Mid-20th-century American pop stars such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra,{{cite web|date=December 8, 2015|title=10 ways that Frank Sinatra changed the world|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2015/12/08/10-ways-frank-sinatra-changed-world/76381754/|access-date=June 24, 2021|website=USA Today}} and Elvis Presley became global celebrities, as have artists of the late 20th century such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, and Whitney Houston.{{cite web |date=February 13, 2012 |title=Whitney Houston's Global Impact |url=https://edition.cnn.com/videos/bestoftv/2012/02/13/exp-nr-bilchik-whitney-international-reaction.cnn |access-date=June 24, 2021 |website=CNN}}{{cite web |title=How Prince and his music challenged the music industry |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/2654768/how-prince-and-his-music-challenged-the-music-industry/ |access-date=June 25, 2016 |website=Global News}}

{{As of|2022}}, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and many others contemporary artists dominate global streaming rankings.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/music/news/spotify-wrapped-bad-bunny-taylor-swift-1235444491|title=Spotify Launches Wrapped 2022: Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift Are Most-Streamed Artists of the Year|last=Spangler|first=Todd|date=November 30, 2022|website=Variety|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130153903/https://variety.com/2022/music/news/spotify-wrapped-bad-bunny-taylor-swift-1235444491/|archive-date=November 30, 2022|url-status=live|access-date=November 30, 2022}}

The annual Coachella music festival in California is one of the largest, most famous, and most profitable music festivals in the United States and the world.{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-goldenvoice-releases-coachella-set-times-20140408,0,4834910.story|title=Goldenvoice releases Coachella set times, adds to the lineup|work=Los Angeles Times|first=Todd|last=Martens|date=April 8, 2014|access-date=April 9, 2014|archive-date=April 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410071815/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-goldenvoice-releases-coachella-set-times-20140408,0,4834910.story|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://blog.tripoetic.com/7-top-music-festivals-around-the-world/|title=7 Top Music Festivals Around The World – Tripoetic Blog|date=January 31, 2017|newspaper=Tripoetic Blog|access-date=February 23, 2017|archive-date=February 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223212916/http://blog.tripoetic.com/7-top-music-festivals-around-the-world/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Cinema of the United States|Hollywood, Los Angeles}}

File:Hollywood_Sign_(Zuschnitt).jpg]]

The United States movie industry has a worldwide influence and following. Hollywood, a northern district of Los Angeles, California, is the leader in motion picture production and the most recognizable movie industry in the world.{{cite book|title=Annual Report of the Controller of the City of Los Angeles, California|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1VbOAAAAMAAJ&q=Hollywood+merged+with+City+of+Los+Angeles+in+1910&pg=PA193|publisher=ByOffice of Controller Los Angeles, CA (1914)|access-date=February 22, 2014|year = 1914}}{{cite book|title=Report of the Auditor of the City of Los Angeles California of the Financial Affairs of the Corporation in Its Capacity as a City for the Fiscal Year|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cPo2AQAAMAAJ&q=Hollywood+merged+with+City+of+Los+Angeles+in+1910&pg=PA173|publisher=By Auditor's Office of Los Angeles, CA (1913)|access-date=February 22, 2014|year = 1913}}{{cite press release|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30707|title=Nigeria surpasses Hollywood as world's second-largest film producer|publisher=United Nations|date=May 5, 2009|access-date=February 17, 2013}} The major film studios of the United States are the primary source of the most commercially successful and most ticket selling movies in the world.{{cite book |last1=Kerrigan |first1=Finola |title=Film Marketing |date=2010 |publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann |location=Oxford |isbn=9780750686839 |page=18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ufMdvuuTQ7MC&pg=PA18 |access-date=4 February 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Glyn |last2=Dickinson |first2=Kay |last3=Patti |first3=Lisa |last4=Villarejo |first4=Amy |title=Film Studies: A Global Introduction |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon |isbn=9781317623380 |page=299 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dnXABgAAQBAJ&pg=PA299 |access-date=24 August 2020}}

The dominant style of American cinema is classical Hollywood cinema, which developed from 1913 to 1969 and is still typical of most films made there to this day. While Frenchmen Auguste and Louis Lumière are generally credited with the birth of modern cinema,{{cite web|title=The Lumière Brothers, Pioneers of Cinema|date=23 August 2018 |url=http://www.history.com/news/the-lumiere-brothers-pioneers-of-cinema|publisher=History Channel|access-date=June 9, 2022}} American cinema soon came to be a dominant force in the emerging industry. The world's first sync-sound musical film, The Jazz Singer, was released in 1927,{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3457278/the-jazz-singer/|title=Why Contemporary Commentators Missed the Point With 'The Jazz Singer'|magazine=Time}} and was at the forefront of sound-film development in the following decades. Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (1941) is frequently cited in critics' polls as the greatest film of all time.[http://www.filmsite.org/villvoice.html Village Voice: 100 Best Films of the 20th century (2001)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331174817/http://www.filmsite.org/villvoice.html |date=March 31, 2014}}. Filmsite.org; {{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/critics-long.html |title=Sight and Sound Top Ten Poll 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515211647/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/critics-long.html |archive-date=May 15, 2012 |df=mdy}}. BFI. Retrieved June 9, 2022.

{{Main|Television in the United States|Radio in the United States|Streaming media}}

{{Update|date=March 2023}}

File:Comcastcenter vertical.jpg in Philadelphia, headquarters of Comcast, the world's largest telecommunications and media conglomerate]]

Television constitutes a significant part of the traditional media of the United States. Household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%,{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/business/media/03television.html|title=Television Ownership Drops in U.S., Nielsen Reports|first=Brian|last=Stelter|date=May 3, 2011|website=The New York Times}} and the majority of households have more than one set. The peak ownership percentage of households with at least one television set occurred during the 1996–97 season, with 98.4% ownership.{{Cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2007/08/28/us-television-households-by-season/273|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101112160717/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2007/08/28/us-television-households-by-season/273|archive-date = November 12, 2010|title = Private Site}} As a whole, the television networks of the United States is the largest and most syndicated in the world.{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Factsheets/factvchip.html|title=FCC V-Chip Fact Sheet, 7/1/99|website=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=October 17, 2017}}

As of August 2013, approximately 114,200,000 American households own at least one television set.{{cite web |url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/08/23/list-of-how-many-homes-each-cable-networks-is-in-cable-network-coverage-estimates-as-of-august-2013/199072/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825033059/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/08/23/list-of-how-many-homes-each-cable-networks-is-in-cable-network-coverage-estimates-as-of-august-2013/199072/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 25, 2013 |title=List of How Many Homes Each Cable Networks Is In – Cable Network Coverage Estimates As Of August 2013 |last=Seidman |first=Robert |work=TV by the Numbers |publisher=Zap2it |date=August 23, 2013 |access-date=September 7, 2013}}

In 2014, due to a recent surge in the number and popularity of critically acclaimed television series, many critics have said that American television is currently enjoying a golden age.{{cite news|title=Barely Keeping Up in TV's New Golden Age|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 9, 2014|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/business/media/fenced-in-by-televisions-excess-of-excellence.html|access-date=July 9, 2014|last1=Carr|first1=David}}{{cite web|title=Welcome to TV's Second Golden Age|website=CBS News |date=October 2013 |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/welcome-to-tvs-second-golden-age/|access-date=July 9, 2014}}

{{Further|American philosophy}}

File:Scene_at_the_Signing_of_the_Constitution_of_the_United_States.jpg of the scene at the Philadelphia Convention which led to the signing of the United States Constitution, an important document in American political and legal philosophy]]

Early American philosophy was heavily shaped by the European Age of Enlightenment, which promoted ideals such as reason and individual liberty.Hoeveler, J. David, Creating the American Mind: Intellect and Politics in the Colonial Colleges, Rowman & Littlefield, {{ISBN|978-0742548398}}, 2007, p. xi

Artificial intelligence and the philosophy of mind have been heavily influenced by American philosophers such as Daniel Dennett,[http://philosophy.uwaterloo.ca/MindDict/dennett.html "Daniel Dennett" at the Dictionary of the Philosophy of Mind] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117104346/http://philosophy.uwaterloo.ca/MindDict/dennett.html |date=January 17, 2013}} Retrieved September 10, 2009 Noam Chomsky,{{cite web |title=Noam Chomsky – Philosophy of mind and human nature |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Noam-Chomsky/Philosophy-of-mind-and-human-nature |website=Britannica |language=en}} Hilary Putnam,{{cite book|last=LeDoux |first=J. |title=The Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are| publisher=Viking Penguin|location=New York|year=2002|isbn=88-7078-795-8}} Jerry Fodor, and John Searle, who contributed to cognitivism, the hard problem of consciousness, and the mind-body problem.

{{Main|Society of the United States}}

{{Main|Education in the United States|Educational attainment in the United States}}

File:Fest_of_Books_2009.jpg is the largest book festival in the United States, annually drawing approximately 150,000 attendees.]]

In the year 2000, there were 76.6 million students enrolled in schools from kindergarten through graduate schools. Of these, 72 percent aged 12 to 17 were judged academically "on track" for their age (enrolled in school at or above grade level). Of those enrolled in compulsory education, 5.2 million (10.4 percent) were attending private schools. Among the country's adult population, over 85 percent have completed high school and 27 percent have received a bachelor's degree or higher.{{cite web |title=US High school census data |url=http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/censusandstatistics/a/highschool.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709223701/http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/censusandstatistics/a/highschool.htm |archive-date=July 9, 2014 |access-date=September 18, 2014}}

The large majority of the world's top universities, as listed by various ranking organizations, are in the United States, including 19 of the top 25, and the most prestigiousHarvard University.{{Cite web |last=Fink |first=Jenni |date=2019-10-22 |title=U.S. Schools Take 8 of 10 Top Spots on U.S. News' Best Global Universities |url=https://www.newsweek.com/us-news-best-global-universities-american-schools-dominate-top-10-1466768 |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Nietzel |first=Michael T. |date=March 22, 2023 |title=U.S. Universities Dominate Latest QS World Rankings By Academic Field |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2023/03/22/us-universities-dominate-latest-qs-world-rankings-by-academic-field/ |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/best-countries-for-education |title=Best Countries for Education: North American and European countries are seen as offering the best opportunities for education. |website=U.S. News & World Report |date=April 19, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings |title=2022-2023 Best Global Universities Rankings |website=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=April 27, 2023}} The country also has by far the most Nobel Prize winners in history, with 403 (having won 406 awards).{{Cite web |title=All Nobel Prizes |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/all-nobel-prizes |website=NobelPrize.org}}

{{Main|Gun culture in the United States}}

{{ multiple image | total_width=450

| image1= 2000- Gun sales and NICS firearm background checks - U.S.svg |caption1= U.S. gun sales have risen in the 21st century, peaking in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.● Gun sale data from {{cite news |last1=Brownlee |first1=Chip |title=Gun Violence by the Numbers in 2023 |url=https://www.thetrace.org/2023/12/data-gun-violence-deaths-america/ |work=The Trace |date=December 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240128065745/https://www.thetrace.org/2023/12/data-gun-violence-deaths-america/ |archive-date=January 28, 2024 |url-status=live }}
● NICS firearm check data downloaded via link at {{cite web |title=NICS Firearm Background Checks: Month/Year |url=https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics_firearm_checks_-_month_year.pdf |website=FBI.gov |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129020051/https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics_firearm_checks_-_month_year.pdf |archive-date=January 29, 2024 |date=January 2024 |url-status=live}} "NICS" is the FBI's National Instant Background Check System.

| image2= Houston Gun Show at the George R. Brown Convention Center.jpg |caption2= Visitors at a gun show

}}

In sharp contrast to most other nations, firearms laws in the United States are permissive, and private gun ownership is common; almost half of American households contain at least one firearm.{{cite news |date=October 26, 2011 |title=Self-Reported Gun Ownership in the U.S. Is Highest Since 1993 |website=Gallup |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/150353/self-reported-gun-ownership-highest-1993.aspx |first1=Lydia |last1=Saad |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207130528/https://news.gallup.com/poll/150353/self-reported-gun-ownership-highest-1993.aspx |archive-date= Dec 7, 2023 }} The Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an individual right to possess modern firearms, subject to reasonable regulation,{{cite news |date=June 26, 2008 |title=US District of Columbia et al v Heller |publisher=US Supreme Court |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211231044941/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf |archive-date= Dec 31, 2021 }} a view shared by the majority of Americans.

There are more privately owned firearms in the United States than in any other country, both per capita and in total.{{cite news |date=August 28, 2007 |title=U.S. most armed country with 90 guns per 100 people |publisher=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL2834893820070828 |first1=Laura |last1=MacInnis |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116042041/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL2834893820070828 |archive-date= Nov 16, 2023 }} Civilians in the United States possess about 42% of the global inventory of privately owned firearms.{{cite web |title=Research Notes: Estimating Civilian Owned Firearms |date=September 2011 |url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-9.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111218194637/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-9.pdf |archive-date=December 18, 2011 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |publisher=Small Arms Survey}} Rates of gun ownership vary significantly by region and by state; gun ownership is most common in Alaska, the Mountain States, and the South, and least prevalent in Hawaii, the island territories, California, and New England. Across the board, gun ownership tends to be more common in rural than in urban areas.{{cite news |title=Gun Ownership by State |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/interactives/guns/ownership.html |first1=Laura |last1=Cochran |date=May 26, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230504155017/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/interactives/guns/ownership.html |archive-date= May 4, 2023 }}

Hunting, plinking, and target shooting are popular pastimes, although ownership of firearms for purely utilitarian purposes such as personal protection is common as well. "Personal protection" was the most common reason given for gun ownership in a 2013 Gallup poll of gun owners, at 60%.{{cite news |date=October 28, 2013 |title=Personal Safety Top Reason Americans Own Guns Today |website=Gallup |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/165605/personal-safety-top-reason-americans-own-guns-today.aspx |first1=Art |last1=Swift |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231115215314/https://news.gallup.com/poll/165605/personal-safety-top-reason-americans-own-guns-today.aspx |archive-date= Nov 15, 2023 }} Ownership of handguns, while not uncommon, is less common than ownership of long guns. Gun ownership is much more prevalent among men than among women, with men being approximately four times more likely than women to report owning guns.{{cite journal |last1=Hepburn |first1=L. |last2=Miller |first2=M. |last3=Azrael |first3=D. |last4=Hemenway |first4=D. |year=2007 |title=The U.S. gun stock: results from the 2004 national firearms survey |journal=Injury Prevention |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=15–19 |doi=10.1136/ip.2006.013607 |doi-access=free |pmc=2610545 |pmid=17296683 }}

{{Main|Religion in the United States}}

{{See also|American civil religion|Ceremonial deism|In God We Trust|Puritans}}

{{Pie chart|thumb=right|caption=Self-identified religious affiliation in the United States (2023 The Wall Street Journal-NORC poll){{Cite web |author= |date=2022 |title=March 2023 NORC/AP poll |url=https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/WSJ_NORC_ToplineMarc_2023.pdf |access-date=March 27, 2023 |website=Wall Street Journal}}|label1=Protestantism|value1=26|color1=DarkBlue|label2=Catholicism|value2=21|color2=Blue|label3="Just Christian"|value3=20|color3=Lightblue|label4=Mormonism|value4=1|color4=Purple|label5=Unitarianism|value5=1|color5=Red|label6=Judaism|value6=2|color6=Pink|label7=Buddhism|value7=2|color7=Yellow|label8=Something else|value8=2|color8=Orange|label9=Islam|value9=1|color9=Green|label10=Nothing in particular|value10=12|color10=White|label11=Agnostic|value11=8|color11=LightGrey|label12=Atheist|value12=4|color12=Black}}

Among developed countries, the U.S. is one of the most religious in terms of its demographics. According to a 2002 study by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, the U.S. was the only developed nation in the survey where a majority of citizens reported that religion played a "very important" role in their lives, an opinion similar to that found in Latin America.{{cite web |date=December 19, 2002 |title=U.S. Stands Alone in its Embrace of Religion |url=http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=167 |access-date=January 1, 2007 |work=Pew Global Attitudes Project}} Today, governments at the national, state, and local levels are secular institutions, with what is often called the "separation of church and state". The most popular religion in the U.S. is Christianity, comprising the majority of the population (73.7% of adults in 2016).{{Cite news |last=Newport |first=Frank |date=23 December 2016 |title=Five Key Findings on Religion in the U.S. |language=en-us |work=Gallup |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/200186/five-key-findings-religion.aspx |access-date=2018-04-05}}{{Cite web |author=Kim Ann Zimmermann |date=July 14, 2017 |title=American Culture: Traditions and Customs of the United States |url=https://www.livescience.com/28945-american-culture.html |access-date=2021-01-19 |website=livescience.com |language=en}}

Although participation in organized religion has been diminishing, the public life and popular culture of the United States incorporates many Christian ideals specifically about redemption, salvation, conscience, and morality. Examples are popular culture obsessions with confession and forgiveness, which extends from reality television to twelve-step meetings.{{cite web |last=O'Hehir |first=Andrew |date=January 20, 2013 |title=Why do we care if Lance apologizes? |url=http://www.salon.com/2013/01/20/why_do_we_care_if_lance_apologizes/ |access-date=January 20, 2013 |work=Salon}}

{{Pie chart|thumb=left|caption=Self-identified religiosity (2023 The Wall Street Journal-NORC poll){{cite web |last=Staff |date=2022 |title=March 2023 NORC/AP poll |url=https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/WSJ_NORC_ToplineMarc_2023.pdf |access-date=March 27, 2023 |website=Wall Street Journal}}|label1=Very religious|value1=17|color1=DarkBlue|label2=Moderately religious|value2=31|color2=Lightblue|label3=Slightly religious|value3=23|color3=Grey|label4=Not religious at all|value4=29|color4=White}}

Most of the British Thirteen Colonies were generally not tolerant of dissident forms of worship. Civil and religious restrictions were most strictly applied by the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony which saw various banishments applied to enforce conformity, including the branding iron, the whipping post, the bilboes and the hangman's noose.{{cite journal |last1=Merrill |first1=Louis Taylor |date=1945 |title=The Puritan Policeman |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2085847 |journal=American Sociological Review |publisher=American Sociological Association |volume=10 |issue=6 |pages=766–776 |doi=10.2307/2085847 |jstor=2085847|url-access=subscription }} The persecuting spirit was shared by Plymouth Colony and the colonies along the Connecticut river.Rogers, Horatio, 2009. [https://books.google.com/books?id=L5_5yIgpa-YC&q=Among+the+most+pathetic+chapters+ Mary Dyer of Rhode Island: The Quaker Martyr That Was Hanged on Boston] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115151223/https://books.google.com/books?id=L5_5yIgpa-YC&printsec=frontcover&dq=mary+dyer+1660&hl=en&ei=8p99TMePDpGO4QayguXHBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA|date=15 January 2016}} pp. 1–2. BiblioBazaar, LLC Mary Dyer was one of the four executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs, and her death on the Boston gallows marked the beginning of the end of Puritan theocracy and New England independence from English rule; in 1661 Massachusetts was forbidden from executing anyone for professing Quakerism.{{cite book |last1=Bremer |first1=Francis J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzvHvEDPosQC&q=charles+1661+-+massachusetts+execution&pg=PR41 |title=Puritans and Puritanism in Europe and America: a comprehensive encyclopedia |last2=Webster |first2=Tom |year=2006 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1576076781 |access-date=3 September 2011}} Anti-Catholic sentiment appeared in New England with the first Pilgrim and Puritan settlers.{{cite news |date=June 14, 2016 |title=America's dark and not-very-distant history of hating Catholics |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/12/america-history-of-hating-catholics}} The Pilgrims of New England held radical Protestant disapproval of Christmas.{{cite book |last=Barnett |first=James Harwood |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-sRH9skUh6oC&q=Christmas+Puritan+New+England&pg=PA2 |title=The American Christmas: A Study in National Culture |publisher=Ayer Publishing |year=1984 |isbn=0405076711 |page=3}} Christmas observance was outlawed in Boston in 1659.{{cite news |last=Schnepper |first=Rachel N. |date=December 14, 2012 |title=Yuletide's Outlaws |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/opinion/the-puritan-war-on-christmas.html?hp&_r=0 |access-date=December 15, 2012 |quote=From 1659 to 1681, anyone caught celebrating Christmas in the colony would be fined five shillings. ...}} The ban by the Puritans was revoked in 1681 by an English appointed governor; however, it was not until the mid-19th century that celebrating Christmas became common in the Boston region.{{cite book |last=Marling |first=Karal Ann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUc13_ourtYC&q=Christmas+Puritan+New+England&pg=PA44 |title=Merry Christmas!: Celebrating America's Greatest Holiday |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0674003187 |page=44}}

The colony of Maryland, founded by the Catholic Lord Baltimore in 1634, came closest to applying freedom of religion.Zimmerman, Mark, [http://issuu.com/columbia-magazine/docs/columbiamar10en?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true Symbol of Enduring Freedom] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022102459/https://issuu.com/columbia-magazine/docs/columbiamar10en?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true|date=October 22, 2016}}, p. 19, Columbia Magazine, March 2010.

Modeling the provisions concerning religion within the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, the framers of the United States Constitution rejected any religious test for office, and the First Amendment specifically denied the central government any power to enact any law respecting either an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise. In the following decades, the animating spirit behind the constitution's Establishment Clause led to the disestablishment of the official religions within the member states. The framers were mainly influenced by secular, Enlightenment ideals, but they also considered the pragmatic concerns of minority religious groups who did not want to be under the power or influence of a state religion that did not represent them.Marsden, George M. 1990. Religion and American Culture. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, pp. 45–46. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence said, "The priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot."{{Cite book |last=Jefferson |first=Thomas |title=The writings of Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association of the United States |year=1904 |page=119}}

Gallup polls during the early 2020s found that about 81% of Americans believe in some conception of a God and 45% report praying on a daily basis.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Jeffrey |date=2022-06-17 |title=Belief in God in U.S. Dips to 81%, a New Low |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/393737/belief-god-dips-new-low.aspx |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=Gallup |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Shimron |first=Yonat |date=December 17, 2021 |title=More Americans are becoming secular, poll says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/12/17/secular-pew-poll/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 1, 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Jeffrey |date=2022-12-21 |title=In U.S., Childhood Churchgoing Habits Fade in Adulthood |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/467354/childhood-churchgoing-habits-fade-adulthood.aspx |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=Gallup |language=en}} According to their poll in December 2022, "31% report attending a church, synagogue, mosque or temple weekly or nearly weekly today." In the "Bible Belt", which is located primarily within the Southern United States, socially conservative evangelical Protestantism plays a significant role culturally. New England and the Western United States tend to be less religious.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Daniel |date=March 1, 2023 |title='Christian America' Isn't Dying. It's Dividing. |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/february-web-only/christianity-america-pew-research-statistics-minority.html |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Christianity Today |language=en}} Around 6% of Americans claim a non-Christian faith;{{Cite web |last=Nadeem |first=Reem |date=2022-09-13 |title=Modeling the Future of Religion in America |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/modeling-the-future-of-religion-in-america/ |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}} the largest of which are Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.{{cite web |date=May 12, 2015 |title=America's Changing Religious Landscape |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |publisher=Pew Research Center: Religion & Public Life}} The United States either has the first or second-largest Jewish population in the world, and the largest outside of Israel.{{cite report |editor1-last=Dashefsky |editor1-first=Arnold |editor-link1=Arnold Dashefsky |editor2-last=Della Pergola |editor2-first=Sergio |editor-link2=Sergio Della Pergola |editor3-last=Sheskin |editor3-first=Ira |date=2018 |title=World Jewish Population|url=https://www.jewishdatabank.org/content/upload/bjdb/2018-World_Jewish_Population_(AJYB,_DellaPergola)_DB_Final.pdf|publisher=Berman Jewish DataBank|access-date=22 June 2019}} "Ceremonial deism" is common in American culture.{{Cite web |last=Donadio |first=Rachel |date=2021-11-22 |title=Why Is France So Afraid of God? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/12/france-god-religion-secularism/620528/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}{{Cite web |last1=Merriam |first1=Jesse |last2=Lupu |first2=Ira |last3=Elwood |first3=F |last4=Davis |first4=Eleanor |date=August 28, 2008 |title=On Ceremonial Occasions, May the Government Invoke a Deity? |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2008/08/28/on-ceremonial-occasions-may-the-government-invoke-a-deity/ |access-date=March 31, 2023 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |language=en-US}}

Around 30% of Americans describe themselves as having no religion. Membership in a house of worship fell from 70% in 1999 to 47% in 2020, much of the decline related to the number of Americans expressing no religious preference. Membership also fell among those who identified with a specific religious group.{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Jeffrey M.|title=U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx|access-date=April 5, 2021|work=Gallup|date=March 29, 2021|language=en}}{{cite news|last1=Gabbatt|first1=Adam|title='Allergic reaction to US religious right' fueling decline of religion, experts say|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/05/americans-religion-rightwing-politics-decline|access-date=April 5, 2021|work=The Guardian|date=April 5, 2021|language=en}} According to Gallup, trust in "the church or organized religion" has declined significantly since the 1970s.{{Cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Justin |date=2019-07-08 |title=U.S. Confidence in Organized Religion Remains Low |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/259964/confidence-organized-religion-remains-low.aspx |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=Gallup |language=en}} According to the 2022 Cooperative Election Study, younger Americans are significantly less religious. Among Generation Z, a near-majority consider themselves atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular.{{Cite web |last=Burge |first=Ryan |author-link=Ryan Burge (political scientist) |date=2023-04-03 |title=Gen Z and Religion in 2022 |url=https://religioninpublic.blog/2023/04/03/gen-z-and-religion-in-2022/ |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=Religion in Public |language=en}}

{{Main|Social class in the United States}}

{{See also|Economy of the United States|Social programs in the United States|Affluence in the United States}}

File:JMR-Memphis1.jpg, Shelby County Courthouse, Memphis, Tennessee, United States]]

Though the majority of Americans in the 21st century identify themselves as middle class, American society has experienced increased income inequality.{{cite web |title=Middle class according to The Drum Major Institute for public policy |url=https://www.pbs.org/now/politics/middleclassoverview.html |access-date=2006-07-25 |website=PBS}}{{cite book |last=Fussel |first=Paul |url=https://archive.org/details/class00paul |title=Class: A Guide through the American Status System |publisher=Touchstone |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-671-79225-1 |location=New York, NY}} Social class, generally described as a combination of educational attainment, income and occupational prestige, is one of the greatest cultural influences in America.

Distinct lifestyles, consumption patterns and values are associated with different classes. Early sociologist-economist Thorstein Veblen, for example, said that those at the top of the societal hierarchy engage in conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption. Upper class Americans commonly have elite Ivy League educations and are traditionally members of exclusive clubs and fraternities with connections to high society, distinguished by their enormous incomes derived from their wealth in assets. The upper-class lifestyle and values often overlap with that of the upper middle class, but with more emphasis on security and privacy in home life and for philanthropy (i.e. the "Donor Class") and the arts. Due to their large wealth (inherited or accrued over a lifetime of investments) and lavish, leisurely lifestyles, the upper class are more prone to idleness. The upper middle class, or the "working rich",{{cite news |date=31 January 2019 |title='Working rich' prevail among today's top earners |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/puww-rp013119.php |access-date=2 May 2019}} commonly identify education and being cultured as prime values, similar to the upper class. Persons in this particular social class tend to speak in a more direct manner that projects authority, knowledge and thus credibility. They often tend to engage in the consumption of so-called mass luxuries, such as designer label clothing. A strong preference for natural materials, organic foods, and a strong health consciousness tend to be prominent features of the upper middle class. American middle-class individuals in general value expanding one's horizon, partially because they are more educated and can afford greater leisure and travel. Working-class individuals take great pride in doing what they consider to be "real work" and keep very close-knit kin networks that serve as a safeguard against frequent economic instability.{{cite book |last=Fussel |first=Paul |url=https://archive.org/details/class00paul |title=Class, A Guide Through the American status system |publisher=Touchstone |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-671-79225-1 |location=New York, NY}}{{cite book |last=Ehrenreich |first=Barbara |url=https://archive.org/details/fearoffallinginn00ehre |title=Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-06-097333-9 |location=New York, NY}}

Working-class Americans and many of those in the middle class may also face occupation alienation. In contrast to upper-middle-class professionals who are mostly hired to conceptualize, supervise, and share their thoughts, many Americans have little autonomy or creative latitude in the workplace.{{cite book |last=Eichar |first=Douglas |url=https://archive.org/details/occupationclassc00eich |title=Occupation and Class Consciousness in America |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-313-26111-4 |location=Westport, Connecticut}} As a result, white collar professionals tend to be significantly more satisfied with their work.{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=William |title=Society in Focus |first2=Joseph |last2=Hickey |publisher=Pearson |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-205-41365-2 |location=Boston, MA}}{{cite book |last=Eichar |first=Douglas |url=https://archive.org/details/occupationclassc00eich |title=Occupation and Class Consciousness in America |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-313-26111-4 |location=Westport, Connecticut}} In 2006, Elizabeth Warren presented her article entitled "The Middle Class on the Precipice", stating that individuals in the center of the income strata, who may still identify as middle class, have faced increasing economic insecurity,{{cite magazine |last=Warren |first=Elizabeth |author-link1=Elizabeth Warren |date=January 2006 |title=The Middle Class on the Precipice – Rising financial risks for American families |url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2006/01/the-middle-class-on-the-html |journal=Harvard Magazine |access-date=August 19, 2018}} supporting the idea of a working-class majority.{{cite book |last=Ehrenreich |first=Barbara |url=https://archive.org/details/fearoffallinginn00ehre |title=Fear of Falling, The Inner Life of the Middle Class |publisher=Harper Collins |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-06-097333-9 |location=New York, NY}} Additionally, working-class Americans who work in the public sector, excluding politicians, are respected and generally respected in the culture, notably postal workers.{{Cite web |title=Anthrax |url=https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/behind-the-badge-case-histories-dangerous-mail/anthrax |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=National Postal Museum |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Coile |first=Ray Delgado and Zachary |date=2001-10-23 |title=Anthrax killed postal workers / They worked at D.C. sorting office |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/anthrax-killed-postal-workers-they-worked-at-2865693.php |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=SFGATE |language=en-US}}

File:5th Avenue 9304.JPG in Midtown Manhattan is the most expensive shopping street in the world.{{cite web|url=https://ir.cushmanwakefield.com/news/press-release-details/2023/New-Yorks-Fifth-Avenue-Retains-its-Top-Ranking-as-the-Worlds-Most-Expensive-Retail-Destination/default.aspx#:~:text=around%20the%20world.-,New%20York's%20Fifth%20Avenue%20retains%20its%20top%20ranking%20as%20the,which%20placed%20third%20in%202023.|title=New York's Fifth Avenue Retains its Top Ranking as the World's Most Expensive Retail Destination|publisher=Cushman & Wakefield|date=November 20, 2023|access-date=August 13, 2024}}]]

Political behavior is affected by class; more affluent individuals are more likely to vote, and education and income affect whether individuals tend to vote for the Democratic or Republican party. Income also had a significant impact on health as those with higher incomes had better access to health care facilities, higher life expectancy, lower infant mortality rate and increased health consciousness.{{cite journal |last1=Collison |first1=D. |last2=Dey |first2=C. |last3=Hannah |first3=G. |last4=Stevenson |first4=L. |date=June 2007 |title=Income inequality and child mortality in wealthy nations |department=Discussion-What is already known on this topic |journal=Journal of Public Health |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=114–7 |doi=10.1093/pubmed/fdm009 |pmid=17356123 |quote=[There] was evidence to suggest a statistically significant association between infant mortality and income inequality...this effect may have been because of the disproportionate influence of the USA which has 'exceptionally high income inequality and poor child health' |doi-access=free}}{{cite book |last=Ehrenfreund |first=Max |url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/how-income-affects-life-expectancy/ |title=How income affects life expectancy |date=September 25, 2015 |publisher=World Economic Forum |quote=More affluent Americans have quit smoking en masse over the past few decades, but the poor have not...Richer beneficiaries live longer & cash more generous checks from Social Security. Poorer beneficiaries rely more on programs such as Medicaid & disability insurance, in part because they aren't as healthy. |access-date=August 19, 2018}}{{cite web |last=Kincaid |first=Ellie |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/how-income-affects-health-2015-4 |title=Residents of one Virginia county live 18 years longer than people just 350 miles away — here's why |date=April 14, 2015 |work=Business Insider |quote=People with higher incomes live in areas with healthier resources available, like good grocery stores, safe housing, opportunities to exercise, clean air, and better schools. |access-date=August 19, 2018}} This is particularly noticeable with black voters who are often socially conservative, yet overwhelmingly vote Democratic.{{cite web |date=November 7, 2008 |title=Blacks Are More Socially Conservative Than Barack Obama – Bonnie Erbe |url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/erbe/2008/11/07/blacks-are-more-socially-conservative-than-barack-obama |access-date=2012-06-03 |website=Usnews.com}}{{cite journal |last=Davis |first=George |date=January 6, 2010 |title=Spiritually Liberal, Socially Conservative |url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/modern-melting-pot/201001/spiritually-liberal-socially-conservative |journal=Psychology Today}}

In the United States, occupation is one of the prime factors of social class and is closely linked to an individual's identity. The average workweek in the U.S. for those employed full-time was 42.9 hours long with 30% of the population working more than 40 hours a week.{{Cite FTP |title=U.S. Bureau of Labor, hours worked, 2005 |url=ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/aat19.txt |server=FTP server |url-status=dead |access-date=2006-12-15}} The Average American worker earned $16.64 an hour in the first two quarters of 2006.{{cite web |title=U.S. Department of Labor, employment in 2006 |url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm |access-date=2006-12-15}}

In 2000, the average American worked 1,978 hours per year, 500 hours more than the average German, yet 100 hours less than the average Czech. Overall, the U.S. labor force is one of the most productive in the world, largely due to its workers working more than those in any other post-industrial country, except for South Korea.{{cite news |date=August 31, 2001 |title=CNN, work in American, UN report finds Americans most productive, 2002 |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/trends/08/30/ilo.study/ |access-date=2006-12-15}} Americans generally hold working and being productive in high regard. Individualism,{{cite journal |last1=Grabb |first1=Edward |last2=Baer |first2=Douglas |last3=Curtis |first3=James |year=1999 |title=The Origins of American Individualism: Reconsidering the Historical Evidence |journal=Canadian Journal of Sociology |publisher=University of Alberta |volume=24 |pages=511–533 |doi=10.2307/3341789 |issn=0318-6431 |jstor=3341789 |number=4}} having a strong work ethic,{{cite journal |last=Porter |first=Gayle |date=November 2010 |title=Work Ethic and Ethical Work: Distortions in the American Dream |journal=Journal of Business Ethics |publisher=Springer |volume=96 |pages=535–550 |doi=10.1007/s10551-010-0481-6 |jstor=29789736 |s2cid=143991044 |number=4}} competitiveness,{{cite journal |last=Stephens |first=R.H. |date=September 1952 |title=The Role Of Competition In American Life |journal=The Australian Quarterly |publisher=Australian Institute of Policy and Science |volume=24 |pages=9–14 |jstor=41317686 |number=3}} and altruism{{cite web |url=https://good2give.ngo/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-CAF-World-Giving-Index.pdf |title=World Giving Index 2022 |website=Charities Aid Foundation |access-date=April 27, 2023}}{{Cite web |title=Country-level estimates of altruism |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cross-country-variation-in-altruism |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=Our World in Data}}{{Cite web |last=Marsh |first=Abigail |date=February 5, 2018 |title=Could A More Individualistic World Also Be A More Altruistic One? |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2018/02/05/581873428/could-a-more-individualistic-world-also-be-a-more-altruistic-one |access-date=March 14, 2023 |website=National Public Radio}} are among the most cited American values. According to a 2016 study by the Charities Aid Foundation, Americans donated 1.44% of total GDP to charity, the highest in the world by a large margin.{{cite web |date=January 2016 |title=GROSS DOMESTIC PHILANTHROPY: An international analysis of GDP, tax and giving |url=https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-policy-and-campaigns/gross-domestic-philanthropy-feb-2016.pdf |access-date=July 18, 2022 |publisher=Charities Aid Foundation}}

{{Main|Race and ethnicity in the United States|Immigration to the United States}}

File:Emigrants (i.e. immigrants) landing at Ellis Island -.webm showing immigrants at Ellis Island in New York Harbor, historically the major entry point for European immigration into the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.{{cite book|first1=Marie|last1=Price|first2=Lisa|last2=Benton-Short|title=Migrants to the Metropolis: The Rise of Immigrant Gateway Cities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Tb5HMB63xAC&pg=PA51|year=2008|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-3186-6|page=51}}]]

File:Chinatown 1.jpg in Queens, New York City has become the present-day global epicenter receiving Chinese immigration as well as the international control center directing such migration, as Asian immigration has surpassed European immigration to the U.S. in the late 20th into the 21st century.{{cite news |author=Eileen Sullivan |date=November 24, 2023 |title=Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/24/us/politics/china-migrants-us-border.html |access-date=November 24, 2023 |newspaper=The New York Times |quote=Most who have come to the United States in the past year were middle-class adults who have headed to New York after being released from custody. New York has been a prime destination for migrants from other nations as well, particularly Venezuelans, who rely on the city’s resources, including its shelters. But few of the Chinese migrants are staying in the shelters. Instead, they are going where Chinese citizens have gone for generations: Flushing, Queens. Or to some, the Chinese Manhattan...“New York is a self-sufficient Chinese immigrants community,” said the Rev. Mike Chan, the executive director of the Chinese Christian Herald Crusade, a faith-based group in the neighborhood.}}]]

The United States has an ethnically diverse population, and 37 ancestry groups have more than one million members.{{cite web|title=Ancestry 2000|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf|date=June 2004|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|url-status=live|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20041204015245/https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf|archive-date=December 4, 2004|access-date=December 2, 2016}} White Americans with ancestry from Europe, the Middle East or North Africa, form the largest racial and ethnic group at 57.8% of the U.S. population.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/2020-united-states-population-more-racially-ethnically-diverse-than-2010.html |title=The Chance That Two People Chosen at Random Are of Different Race or Ethnicity Groups Has Increased Since 2010}}{{cite web |title=Table 52. Population by Selected Ancestry Group and Region: 2009|url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0052.pdf |date=2009|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225031832/https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0052.pdf|archive-date=December 25, 2012|access-date=February 11, 2017}} Hispanic and Latino Americans form the second-largest group and are 18.7% of the U.S. population. African Americans constitute the nation's third-largest ancestry group and are 12.1% of the total U.S. population. Asian Americans are the country's fourth-largest group, composing 5.9% of the U.S. population, while the country's 3.7 million Native Americans account for about 1%. In 2020, the median age of the U.S. population was 38.5 years.{{cite web|title=The World Factbook: United States|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states/|access-date=November 10, 2018|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}

According to the United Nations, the U.S. has the highest number of immigrant population in the world, with 50,661,149 people.{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/docs/MigrationStockDocumentation_2019.pdf|title=INTERNATIONAL MIGRANT STOCK 2019 DOCUMENTATION}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/data/UN_MigrantStockTotal_2019.xlsx|title=UN_MigrantStockTotal_2019}} In 2018, there were almost 90 million immigrants and U.S.-born children of immigrants in the U.S., accounting for 28% of the overall U.S. population.{{cite news|date=March 14, 2019|title=Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States|work=Migration Policy Institute|url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states}} In 2017, out of the U.S. foreign-born population, some 45% (20.7 million) were naturalized citizens, 27% (12.3 million) were lawful permanent residents, 6% (2.2 million) were temporary lawful residents, and 23% (10.5 million) were unauthorized immigrants.{{cite web|date=June 17, 2019|title=Key findings about U.S. immigrants|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/|publisher=Pew Research Center}} The U.S. led the world in refugee resettlement for decades, admitting more refugees than the rest of the world combined.{{cite web|title=Key facts about refugees to the U.S.|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/07/key-facts-about-refugees-to-the-u-s/|author=Jens Manuel Krogstad|date=October 7, 2019|publisher=Pew Research Center}}

Race in the U.S. is based on physical characteristics, such as skin color, and has played an essential part in shaping American society even before the nation's conception. Until the civil rights movement of the 1960s, racial minorities in the U.S. faced institutional discrimination and both social and economic marginalization.{{cite book |last1=Hine |first1=Darlene |title=The African American Odyssey |first2=William C. |last2=Hine |first3=Stanley |last3=Harrold |publisher=Pearson |year=2006 |location=Boston, MA}} The U.S. Census Bureau currently recognizes five racial groupings: White, African, Native, Asian, and Pacific Islander. According to the U.S. government, Hispanic Americans do not constitute a race, but rather an ethnic group. During the 2000 U.S. census, Whites made up 75.1% of the population; those who are Hispanic or Latino constituted the nation's prevalent minority with 12.5% of the population. African Americans made up 12.3% of the total population, 3.6% were Asian American, and 0.7% were Native American.{{cite web |title=U.S. Census Bureau, Race and Hispanic or Latino during the 2000 Census |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_QTP3&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212044133/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_QTP3&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |access-date=2006-12-15}}

File:US Race Household Income.png

With its ratification on December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery in the U.S. The Northern states had outlawed slavery in their territory in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, though their industrial economies relied on raw materials produced by slaves in the South. Following the Reconstruction period in the 1870s, racist legislation emerged in the Southern states named the Jim Crow laws that provided for legal segregation. Lynching was practiced throughout the U.S., including in the Northern states, until the 1930s, while continuing well into the civil rights movement in the South.

Chinese Americans were earlier marginalized as well during a significant proportion of U.S. history. Between 1882 and 1943, the U.S. instituted the Chinese Exclusion Act barring all Chinese immigrants from entering the U.S. During the Second World War against the Empire of Japan, roughly 120,000 Japanese Americans, 62% of whom were U.S. citizens,{{cite web |url-status=dead |title=Semiannual Report of the War Relocation Authority, for the period January 1 to June 30, 1946, not dated. Papers of Dillon S. Myer. |url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/japanese_internment/documents/index.php?pagenumber=4&documentid=62&documentdate=1946-00-00&collectionid=JI&nav=ok |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616103305/https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/japanese_internment/documents/index.php?pagenumber=4&documentid=62&documentdate=1946-00-00&collectionid=JI&nav=ok|archive-date=June 16, 2018 |website=Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=September 18, 2006}} were imprisoned in Japanese internment camps by the U.S. government following the attack on Pearl Harbor, an American military base, by Japanese forces in December 1941.

Due to exclusion from or marginalization by earlier mainstream society, there emerged a unique subculture among the racial minorities in the U.S. During the 1920s, Harlem, New York City became home to the Harlem Renaissance. Music styles such as jazz, blues, rap, rock and roll, and numerous folk songs such as Blue Tail Fly (Jimmy Crack Corn) originated within the realms of African American culture and were later adopted by the mainstream. Chinatowns can be found in many cities across the country and Asian cuisine has become a common staple in mainstream America. The Hispanic community has also had a dramatic impact on American culture. Today, Catholics are the largest religious denomination in the U.S. and outnumber Protestants in the Southwest and California.{{cite news |title=What is your religion...if any? |first1=David |last1=Evans |work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/graphics/news/gra/gnoreligion/flash.htm |access-date=2006-12-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070113221824/https://www.usatoday.com/graphics/news/gra/gnoreligion/flash.htm |archive-date= Jan 13, 2007 }}

Asian Americans have median household income and educational attainment exceeding that of other races. African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans have considerably lower income and education than do White Americans or Asian Americans.{{cite web |website=U.S. Census Bureau |date=August 30, 2005 |title=Income Stable, Poverty Rate Increases, Percentage of Americans Without Health Insurance Unchanged |url=https://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061211105333/http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html |archive-date=December 11, 2006 |access-date=2006-12-15}}{{cite web |website=U.S. Census Bureau |title=Educational Attainment in the United States: 2003 |date=June 2004 |first1=Nicole |last1=Stoops |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-550.pdf |access-date=2006-12-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061221044700/https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-550.pdf |archive-date= Dec 21, 2006 }}

{{Main|Racism in the United States|Civil rights movement in popular culture}}

File:Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.svg ethnic background in each county in the U.S. in 2000:

German English Norwegian Dutch Finnish Irish French Italian Mexican Native Spanish American African American Puerto Rican]]

White Americans (non-Hispanic/Latino and Hispanic/Latino) are the racial majority and have a 72% share of the U.S. population, according to the 2010 U.S. census.{{cite web |title=B02001. RACE – Universe: TOTAL POPULATION |url=https://www.census.gov |access-date=February 28, 2010 |work=2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates |publisher=United States Census Bureau}} Hispanic and Latino Americans comprise 15% of the population, making up the largest ethnic minority.{{cite web |title=U.S. Census website |url=https://www.census.gov |access-date=2010-02-28 |work=2008 Population Estimates |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau}} Black Americans are the largest racial minority, comprising nearly 13% of the population. The White, non-Hispanic or Latino population comprises 63% of the nation's total.

Throughout most of the country's history before and after its independence, the majority race in the United States has been Caucasian—aided by historic restrictions on citizenship and immigration—and the largest racial minority has been African Americans, most of whom are descended from slaves smuggled to the Americas by the European colonial powers. This relationship has historically been the most important one since the founding of the United States. Slavery existed in the United States at the time of the country's formation in the 1770s. The Missouri Compromise declared a policy of prohibiting slavery in the remaining Louisiana lands north of the 36°30′ parallel. De facto, it sectionalized the country into two factions: free states, which forbid the institution of slavery; and slave states, which protected the institution. The Missouri Compromise was controversial, seen as lawfully dividing the country along sectarian lines. Although the federal government outlawed American participation in the Atlantic slave trade in 1807, after 1820, cultivation of the highly profitable cotton crop exploded in the Deep South, and along with it, the use of slave labor.{{cite book|author=Cogliano, Francis D.|title=Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1f-wAfE0mpsC&pg=PA219|year=2008|publisher=University of Virginia Press|isbn=978-0-8139-2733-6|page=219}}Walton, 2009, p. 43Gordon, 2004, pp. 27,29 The Second Great Awakening, especially in the period 1800–1840, converted millions to evangelical Protestantism. In the North, it energized multiple social reform movements, including abolitionism;{{cite book |author=Clark, Mary Ann|title=Then We'll Sing a New Song: African Influences on America's Religious Landscape|url=https://archive.org/details/thenwellsingnews0000clar/page/47|date=May 2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-0881-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/thenwellsingnews0000clar/page/47 47]}} in the South, Methodists and Baptists proselytized among slave populations.Heinemann, Ronald L., et al., Old Dominion, New Commonwealth: a history of Virginia 1607–2007, 2007 {{ISBN|978-0-8139-2609-4}}, p. 197

In 1882, in response to Chinese immigration due to the Gold Rush and the labor needed for the transcontinental railroad, the government signed into law the Chinese Exclusion Act which banned immigration by Chinese people into the U.S. In the late 19th century, the growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S., fueled largely by Mexican immigration, generated debate over policies such as English as the official language and reform to immigration policies. The Immigration Act of 1924 established the National Origins Formula as the basis of U.S. immigration policy, largely to restrict immigration from Asia, Southern Europe, and Eastern Europe. According to the Office of the Historian of the U.S. Department of State, the purpose of the 1924 Act was "to preserve the ideal of U.S. homogeneity".{{cite news |title=Milestones: 1921–1936: The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act) |publisher=Office of the Historian, United States Department of State |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/immigration-act |access-date=July 18, 2020}} In 1924, Indian-born Bhagat Singh Thind was twice denied citizenship as he was not deemed white.{{cite news |date=February 20, 1923 |title=Court Rules Hindu Not a 'White Person'; Bars High Caste Native of India From Naturalization as an American Citizen |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/02/20/archives/court-rules-hindu-not-a-white-person-bars-high-caste-native-of.html |accessdate=June 5, 2022}} Marking a radical break from U.S. immigration policies of the past, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened entry to the U.S. to non-Germanic groups.{{cite news |first=Jennifer |last=Ludden |title=1965 immigration law changed face of America |newspaper=NPR.org |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5391395 |access-date=June 5, 2022}} This Act significantly altered the demographic mix in the U.S. as a result, creating a modern, diverse America.

A huge majority of Americans of all races disapprove of racism. Nevertheless, some Americans continue to hold negative racial/ethnic stereotypes about various racial and ethnic groups. Professor Imani Perry, of Princeton University, has argued that contemporary racism in the United States "is frequently unintentional or unacknowledged on the part of the actor",Imani Perry, More Beautiful More Terrible: The Embrace and Transcendence of Racial Inequality in the United States, New York University Press: 2011, p. 7 believing that racism mostly stems unconsciously from below the level of cognition.Perry, 21

{{Main|Transportation in the United States}}

{{further|Passenger vehicles in the United States|Driving in the United States|1950s American automobile culture}}

File:1965 Ford Mustang Fastback (15595256971).jpg": 1965 Ford Mustang "fastback", introduced in September 1964 for the 1965 model year]]

Personal transportation is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of {{convert|4|e6mi|abbr=off|sp=us}} of public roads, making it the longest network in the world.{{Cite web |title=Roadways - The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/roadways/country-comparison |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712201909/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/roadways/country-comparison |archive-date=2021-07-12 |access-date=2021-07-15 |website=www.cia.gov}}{{cite web |title=Public Road and Street Mileage in the United States by Type of Surface|url=https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_04.html|website=United States Department of Transportation|access-date=January 13, 2015|archive-date=January 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102141414/https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_04.html|url-status=dead}} In 2001, 90% of Americans drove to work by car.[http://www.bts.gov/publications/highlights_of_the_2001_national_household_travel_survey/html/executive_summary.html Highlights of the 2001 National Household Travel Survey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002070118/http://www.bts.gov/publications/highlights_of_the_2001_national_household_travel_survey/html/executive_summary.html|date=October 2, 2006}}, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation, accessed May 21, 2006 As of 2022, the United States is the second-largest manufacturer of motor vehicles{{cite web |title=2022 production statistics |url=https://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/2022-statistics/ |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers}} and is home to Tesla, the world's most valuable car company.{{cite web |last=Klebnikov |first=Sergei |title=Tesla Is Now The World's Most Valuable Car Company With A $208 Billion Valuation |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/07/01/tesla-is-now-the-worlds-most-valuable-car-company-with-a-valuation-of-208-billion/ |url-access=limited |date=Jul 1, 2020 |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=Forbes |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128172600/https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/07/01/tesla-is-now-the-worlds-most-valuable-car-company-with-a-valuation-of-208-billion/?sh=33aa35c35334 |archive-date= Jan 28, 2023 }} General Motors held the title of the world's best-selling automaker from 1931 to 2008.{{cite news |last=Bunkley |first=Nick |date=2009-01-21 |title=Toyota Ahead of G.M. in 2008 Sales |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/business/22auto.html |url-access=registration |access-date=2023-04-14 |issn=0362-4331}} Currently, the U.S. has the world's second-largest automobile market by sales{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/jan/08/china-us-car-sales-overtakes|title=China overtakes US in car sales|newspaper=The Guardian|date=January 8, 2010|access-date=July 10, 2011|location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909065535/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/jan/08/china-us-car-sales-overtakes |archive-date= Sep 9, 2013 }} and the highest vehicle ownership per capita in the world, with 816.4 vehicles per 1,000 Americans (2014).{{cite web|last=|first=|date=January 30, 2017|title=Fact #962: Vehicles per Capita: Other Regions/Countries Compared to the United States|url=https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-962-january-30-2017-vehicles-capita-other-regionscountries-compared-united-states|access-date=January 23, 2021|website=Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy |publisher=Department of Energy |language=en}} In 2017, there were 255 million non-two wheel motor vehicles, or about 910 vehicles per 1,000 people.{{cite web|url=https://capitol-tires.com/how-many-cars-per-capita-in-the-us.html|title=How Many Cars Per Capita in the US |date=August 2017 |publisher=Capitol Tires |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127232652/https://capitol-tires.com/how-many-cars-per-capita-in-the-us.html |archive-date= Nov 27, 2023 }}

Beginning in the 1990s, lower energy and land costs favor the production of relatively larger cars, leading to a decline in economy cars. The culture in the 1950s and 1960s often catered to the automobile with motels and drive-in restaurants. Outside of the relatively few urban areas, it is considered a necessity for most Americans to own and drive cars. New York City is the only locality in the United States where more than half of all households do not own a car. In a car-dependent America, there is a common dislike of car dealerships and car salesmen, with only 10 percent of U.S. citizens in a Gallup poll rating them highly honest.{{Cite web |date=2023-01-10 |title=Nurses Retain Top Ethics Rating in U.S., but Below 2020 High |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/467804/nurses-retain-top-ethics-rating-below-2020-high.aspx |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Gallup |first1=Megan |last1=Brenan |language=en}}

File:New York City street scenes - Easter on 5th Avenue LCCN93506588.jpg on the streets of New York in 1915]]

The United States emerged as a pioneer of the automotive industry in the early 20th century. General Motors Corporation (GM), the company that would soon become the world's largest automaker, was founded in 1908 by William Durant.{{cite web |author1=The Pit Boss |title=The Pit Stop: The American Automotive Industry Is Packed With History |url=https://pitstop.rumbleon.com/american-automotive-history |website=Rumble On |access-date=5 December 2021 |date=26 February 2021}} The U.S. also became the first country in the world to have a mass market for vehicle production and sales, and mass market production process.{{cite encyclopedia |title=automotive industry |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |last=Rae |first=John Bell |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/automotive-industry |access-date=5 December 2021}}{{cite web |title=Automobile History |url=https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/automobiles |website=History.com |access-date=5 December 2021 |date=21 August 2018}}

File:12072012 Smithsonian Building 02a.jpg was the first building of the Smithsonian Institution, a cultural institution in Washington, D.C. created by the US government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge".Henson, P. M. (2021). Smithsonian Institution. In S. P. Holland (Ed.), Encyclopedia of American studies. Johns Hopkins University Press.]]

{{main|Cultural policy of the United States}}

{{further|National Historic Landmark|National Historic Sites (United States)}}

The United States government does not have a ministry of culture, but there are a number of government institutions with cultural responsibilities, including the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, the Federal Communications Commission, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Gallery of Art.

Many state and city governments have a department dedicated to cultural affairs.

{{See also|National Register of Historic Places property types|Historic districts in the United States}}

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The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic value". For most of its history, the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service (NPS), an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Major private US-based culture institutions include the Poetry Foundation, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Trust, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

{{further|List of museums in the United States}}

File:Air and Space Planes.jpg in Washington, D.C., including a Ford Trimotor and Douglas DC-3 (top and second from top)]]

In the United States, there are many museums, both public and private. Major museums in the US include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural History, the Art Institute of Chicago, and The Getty Museum.

{{main|National Archives and Records Administration}}

{{Further|List of archives in the United States}}

There are various archives in the United States for the preservation of history and culture, such as the National Archives and Records Administration.

• 1950s American automobile culture
• African-American culture
• American studies
• American exceptionalism
• American Dream
• Americanization
• Americana
• Society of the United States
• Etiquette in North America
• Folklore of the United States
• Philanthropy in the United States
• Stereotypes of Americans

{{Reflist|refs=

}}

• Twentieth Century American Culture Series from Edinburgh University Press
• Whalan, Mark. American Culture in the 1910s (2010)
• Currell, Susan. American Culture in the 1920s (2009)
• Eldridge, David. American Culture in the 1930s (2008)
• Foertsch, Jacqueline. American Culture in the 1940s (2008)
• Halliwell, Martin. American Culture in the 1950s (2007)
• Monteith, Sharon. American Culture in the 1960s (2008)
• Kaufman, Will. American Culture in the 1970s (2009). [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8vCqBgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=%22Twentieth+Century+American+Culture+Series%22&ots=7PGcdbyk6I&sig=nWTfo3rlZGsEpNcMUoehNtQpLBQ online]
• Thompson, Graham.. American Culture in the 1980s (2007)
• Harrison, Colin. American Culture in the 1990s (2010)

• {{cite book |last1=Alexander |first1=Charles C. |title=Here the Country Lies: Nationalism and the Arts in Twentieth-Century America |date=1980 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=9780253155443}}
• Borus, Daniel H. Twentieth-century multiplicity: American thought and culture, 1900-1920 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008). [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=R1KembViJNQC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Twentieth+Century+American+Culture+Series&ots=A_0S56qFcT&sig=NwlyQueI7u6GnskwVk7Pqc6LkE4 online]
• Bradley, Patricia. Making American Culture: A Social History, 1900-1920 (2009)
• Campbell, Neil, and Alasdair Kean. American cultural studies: An introduction to American culture (Routledge, 2016).
• Coffin, Tristam P.; Cohen, Hennig, (editors), Folklore in America; tales, songs, superstitions, proverbs, riddles, games, folk drama and folk festivals, Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday, 1966. Selections from the Journal of American folklore.
• {{cite book |title=A Brief History of American Culture |last=Crunden |first=Robert Morse |year=1996 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=9781563248658 |page=363 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D_7TyPoR1YgC}}
• Kammen, Michael. American culture, American tastes: Social change and the 20th century (Knopf, 2012).
• Livingston, James. The world turned inside out: American thought and culture at the end of the 20th century (Rowman & Littlefield, 2011). [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zHHj88bw_jkC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Twentieth+Century+American+Culture+Series&ots=DiVRdS4UxE&sig=jY_kD1a8jxmjZpv_UK3DesIADQc online]
• {{Cite book|last=Marcus|first=Greil|title=The Shape of Things to Come: Prophecy and the American Voice|publisher=Macmillan|year=2007|author-link=Greil Marcus |isbn=978-0-312-42642-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iALd6WoGtPEC}}
• Rowe, John Carlos, ed. A Concise Companion to American Studies (Blackwell, 2010) [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shelley-Streeby/publication/228030375_Popular_Mass_and_High_Culture/links/60ee2b670859317dbdde51af/Popular-Mass-and-High-Culture.pdf#page=77 pnline]
• Shell, Ellen Ruppel (2009). Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture. New York: Penguin Press. {{ISBN|978-1-59420-215-5}}.
• Swirski, Peter (2010). Ars Americana Ars Politica: Partisan Expression in Contemporary American Literature and Culture. Montreal, London: McGill-Queen's University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7735-3766-8}}.
• Wilson, Charles Reagan, et al. Encyclopedia of Southern Culture (2nd edition, University of North Carolina Press, 1989), 1656 pp.
• Woodard, Colin, et al. eds. American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America(Viking, 2011).

{{Commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110719102209/http://www.cesl.arizona.edu/custom.html Customs & Culture in the U.S.]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130525102842/http://fbn-usa.org/american-culture-education/ American Culture Education]
• [http://www.lifeintheusa.com/ Life in the USA: The Complete Guide for Immigrants and Americans]
• [http://www.uscg.mil/hq/atcmobil/tradiv/IMS/IMS_Cult_Gde.htm Guide to American culture and customs for foreign students (U.S. Army Intelligence)]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110627175126/http://www.commoncensus.org/ CommonCensus Map Project] – identifying geographic spheres of influence

{{United States topics}}

{{Culture of the United States by state}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:American studies

Category:Arts in the United States

Category:Entertainment in the United States