United States

Speed signs say "SPEED LIMIT" in miles - numbers lower than Canada's, often ending in 5

Canada: 'SPEED LIMIT' → US; 'MAXIMUM' → Canada.

US signs are wordy: railway crossings literally say 'RAILROAD CROSSING'; warning text sits ON the yellow diamond

Canada: Words on the diamond → US.

American spelling (center, color) + imperial units: miles, feet & inches on bridge-height signs

Canada: 'color/center' or ft/in → US.

Yellow triangle 'No Passing Zone' signs are exclusive to the US

Rectangular junction signs w/ single/double arrow

Canada: Rectangle → US; diamond → Canada.

Yield signs: red border, white centre + the word 'YIELD'

Canadian yield signs look identical but have NO text - text = US.

One-way signs: black rectangle w/ white arrow, always 'ONE WAY' printed (cities: white vertical version)

Canada: Missing text → lean Canada.

White & orange fibre-optic cable markers along roads

Almost unique to the US - very rarely seen in Canada.

Canada: US signage/plates → US; Canadian bilingual signs/plates → Canada.

Yellow middle + white outer lines; double yellow middle most common; on divided roads the line nearest the median is yellow

Canada: Double yellow → lean US.

Rumble strips (small perpendicular indentations) on interstate/US-highway edges & between lanes

Canada: Strips → lean US.

Mobile/trailer homes popular in rural areas (most common Southeast, found everywhere)

Canada: Frequent trailers → lean US (South).

Baptist churches very common (esp. Southern Plains & Southeast, but in all 50 states)

Canada: Baptist church → lean US.

Highway exits: large green metal signs w/ curved edges; blue services signs (food/lodging/gas) before exits

Canada: Curved corners → US.

Gen2 is rare in the US → a North American Gen2 round is more likely Canada (exceptions: Alaska, some Hawaii, rarely Deep South); Gen3 less common than in Canada; Gen3 side-mirror blur = single peak (Canada: two peaks)

Canada: Single-peak mirror blur → US.

Parking signs: white metal w/ red/green/black text, wordy rules + arrows

Canada: Text-heavy → US.

Orange construction barrels w/ horizontal white stripes + black rubber base

North America vs Europe tells (US + Canada):

Population density: east of the Missouri River much denser than the west (clickable map)

Each state has a unique plate design (some readable through blur); about half the states don't require a front plate - rear-only skews South & East (map)

Interstates: even = W-E (lowest along Gulf/Mexico), odd = S-N (lowest at West Coast). US Highways numbered roughly inversely (low odd = East Coast, low even = north) - more exceptions there

Phone numbers start w/ a 3-digit area code - not clustered, but learnable (map)

Each state flies its own state flag - the distinct ones appear often (overview)

Topography: high west (Rockies, plateaus; low Central & Imperial Valley in CA) vs low east (Appalachians the main relief; hills also in the Driftless Area + Ozarks); forest density: east & north much denser than west/southwest

Landscape regions:

Crops:

Flora:

State infrastructure IDs: each state has its own highway shield + distinct Adopt-a-Highway sign designs; blue-yellow county road shields in certain states; US National Parks paint guardrails/signs/posts brown (wood or metal, sometimes rock walls)

Road-surface state metas:

Multi-state sign metas:

New England kit: short roadside rock walls (CT/RI/MA/NH); coastal shingle-wall houses; urban three-deckers (NY/CT/RI/MA - also Atlantic Canada); brownstone row houses (NE cities + Chicago)

Architecture by region:

Pole metas: 3 yellow base stripes → most of California (exc. Modoc/Lassen; also Grants Pass, OR); white plate w/ orange rectangle + diamond → Wisconsin & Michigan's Upper Peninsula; yellow PacifiCorp plates → OR, E-ID, UT, WY (rarer CA/WA)

Store & restaurant chains (region deciders):

Non-contiguous US (all have their own pages on this site): Alaska (northern-/western-/easternmost state), Hawaii (only state outside N. America), Puerto Rico (Caribbean Commonwealth), American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas, US Virgin Islands (the only left-driving part of the US), US Minor Outlying Islands (Midway)

Saguaro cacti (tall tubes w/ branching arms) → southern Arizona, Sonoran border

Utility poles w/ 3 yellow stripes at the base (most of CA, exc. Modoc/Lassen NE)

Also in Grants Pass, Oregon - otherwise a CA lock.

Front Range: N-S mountain ridge flanking Denver/Boulder/Colorado Springs - Rockies west, Great Plains east

Central FL (Orlando↔Lakeland) = the only real rolling hills area, w/ lakes + fields

Square-reflector bollard (also UT/AZ) - Idaho appears w/ both 1 and 2 bolts (UT usually 2, AZ 1)

Grainy salt-and-pepper rural roads of the Upper Midwest are most common in Illinois (colour varies)

Concrete paving on ordinary rural roads much more common than elsewhere (ignore bridges/highways/cities)

Only trust it on plain rural roads.

White reflectors on signposts (esp. rural stop signs) - unique to Kansas

Uniquely-shaped rumble strips: thin, long recessed lines on the very outside road edges

Shotgun houses (very narrow 1-storey wood) → New Orleans area (also Houston, Louisville, Mississippi)

Stoplights & signs hang from wires across big intersections, often in yellow boxes; signs often on two posts (also OH/MN/NY)

Not exclusive, but by far most common in Michigan.

Yellow signs w/ vertical black triangles before bridges & guardrail ends; horizontal black-white marker on rural stop-sign posts

County highways lettered A-ZZZ (only WI does this too)

Wisconsin usually writes 'COUNTY' above the letter - Missouri doesn't.

Sandhills: rolling prairie-grass dunes in the central-north of the state

Bollard = white vertical-rectangle reflector w/ black outline on a thin stick

White metal 'E-2' sign beside the road, typically at bridge ends

Bollard w/ 3 circular reflectors; Pueblo-Revival adobe houses (rounded edges, flat roofs, sand-brown - also AZ/CO to a lesser extent)

Square guardrails (long top bar on square legs) dominant (also Wyoming); small green 3-row number signs (2nd row = NYSDOT district; Vermont's start w/ 0)

Street signs showing street numbers + arrows alongside the name; plain white signs on posts common too

Green sign w/ 3 rows of numbers on the back of rural stop signs

Speed signs often just say 'SPEED'; bollard = very long rectangular reflector on top (similar in CA)

'SPEED'-only wording is an Oregon habit.

White rectangular signs at intersections w/ the converging state-route number on top

Black street signs w/ white text common at intersections

White diamond-reflector bollard, usually 2 bolts (Montana = 1 bolt; design exists elsewhere - caution, squares can be rotated)

Yellow/red 'ketchup & mustard' bands around signposts; grainy salt-and-pepper roads; huge sloped roofs (also OK/LA); oil pumpjacks (also E-NM/ND)

Bollard = white square reflector atop a black rectangle (unique to Utah); black paddle bollards (also WY/NE); streets named like '600 South' (also ID)

Small green 3-row number signs - 2nd row almost always starts w/ 0 (New York's = NYSDOT district number)

Same sign type as NY - the 0 is the Vermont tell.

White rectangular signs at intersections; thicker yellow middle lines (also WV/MD/DE)

Bollard = white/brown post, white rectangle front + two small squares on the back; golden wheat fields in the east

Street signs w/ a fraction-in-a-circle symbol

Simple white bollards w/ black reflectors (unique); green ATV Route signs (unique); orange rectangle+diamond pole plate (also MI UP); county letters w/ the word 'COUNTY'

Bollard: dark post, white circular reflector w/ the post rising above it - top sometimes painted white/grey (unique); black paddle bollard w/ white square reflector = WY-only variant

City tells: Pittsburgh = yellow steel bridges + 3 rivers + bluffs; San Francisco = colourful Victorian row houses w/ bay windows; New Orleans = colourful shotgun houses + wrap-around balconies; Miami (Beach) = bright art-deco blocks near the coast

Landscape spotlights: Everglades (jungle-straight lonely roads Ft. Myers↔Miami); Florida Keys (single-lane highway, tropical green, white sandy soil); Wichita Mtns (SW-OK, pink-red rocky peaks); Guadalupe Mtns (NM/TX border, tall dry ridge); Black Hills (W-SD/E-WY, conifer mountains in flat surroundings)

Ford Bronco (unblurred black roof, red hood, 2 escorting Ford SUVs behind) on unpaved rural roads = TransAmerica-Trail promo coverage, Oregon → North Carolina

Interstate 19 (Tucson → Mexico border) is the only US highway signed in kilometres (speed limits still MPH)

National parks: