The Best Accent Tests: a house log

Wondering what American accent you have? Here are 3 online quizzes that can diagnose which regional dialect you use based on your pronunciation and vocabulary. We tried a dozen distinct dialect tests to determine which gave the clearest, most accurate feedback and analysis. One even got us pinned down to the right state!

There were certainly some duds in there, too. One thought I was British, and another said my accent was “high-pitched.” Not sure how that is an American accent or how that is determined from written answers. So do not worry, we excluded those. And all of our go-tos are fast and straightforward to take. They do not require any apps or downloads, and most are free!

Babbel’s Dialect Quiz

The foreign language learning app Babbel has a strong American Dialect Quiz on its website. It is fast, free, and there is no need to download an app or make an account. The 15-question quiz covers both word pronunciations (“how do you pronounce ‘lawyer’?“) and regional terminology (“do you call a carbonated beverage soda, pop, or coke?”).

The quiz results tell you which region of the United States your accent hails from. Our results were accurate, but a little bit broad. I grew up in Virginia, and they dubbed me from “The South,” even though my Southern accent is negligible. And Sherry, who is from New Jersey, got “The Northeast.” Again, accurate, but a little broad when you consider how distinct pockets of the Northeast sound (Boston vs. Brooklyn, for instance).

GoToQuiz’s What American Accent Do You Have?

Although this website is more obscure and its design is fairly outdated, GoToQuiz’s free American accent quiz is straightforward and fairly accurate. It is only 13 questions long and focuses on your pronunciation of distinct vowel sounds in words like pin vs. pen, caught vs. cot, and merry vs. mary vs. marry. Heads up: there are A LOT of ads on this page, and many disguise themselves as part of the quiz. Be sure to ONLY click “Submit Answers” to get your results.

Our results were more mixed on this quiz. I got a “Midland” accent, which they say is like “not having an accent.” Having grown up near Washington DC, I am told my accent is fairly neutral or mixed, but the results do not specifically point to this region of the country. It was lively to see our results presented as a graph of distinct regions though, since most people speak with a blend of regional dialects.

NYT U.S. Dialect Quiz

Our go-to accent test BY FAR, for both accuracy and depth of information, is The New York Times’ U.S. Dialect Quiz. It does sit behind a subscriber paywall, but it is simply too good not to include on this list. It is 25 questions long, and after each response, you get a colored “heatmap” of where your answer is most common in the United States. At the end, you are given a clear geographic picture of your accent.

The results were spot on for both of us (mine above, Sherry’s below). The heatmap was scarily accurate, and even the 3 cities they highlighted for each of us nearly triangulated where we grew up. We also noticed our final questions on the test were slightly distinct, showing that the quiz was adapting as we took it.

Additionally, this test provides details below the map about which of your answers were most telling. My biggest giveaway was calling a drive-through liquor store a “Brew Thru,” which is a specific chain in the Outer Banks, NC. For Sherry, it was the term “Mischief Night” (the night before Halloween). We do not use those words frequently, but apparently they represent highly regionalized knowledge!

Note: The maps above show our 2026 results, but you can see our original results from when we first discussed this quiz in 2013.

Our Go-to Accent Tests: A Summary

These 3 dialect quizzes are all lively and fast to take, so we suggest trying all 3 to see how your results compare. Based on our experience, here is are the pros and cons of each:

• New York Times US Dialect Quiz: The most accurate and most detailed quiz, but requires a subscriber account to take. Take this if you want to learn the most about what defines your dialect and how it compares to other areas of the country.
• Babbel American Dialect Quiz: The easiest quiz to complete, with a clean and free interface. Results are broad, but this is a swift & lively way to see which region of the country your accent matches most.
• GoToQuiz American Accent Test: The fastest quiz to complete, offering a bit more detailed results than the Babbel quiz. We found it to be a bit less accurate, but the nuance in the diagnosis and bar chart results made it worth taking.