Wondering which American accent you have? Below are three online quizzes that identify regional dialects based on pronunciation and vocabulary. After trying a dozen different tests, we picked the clearest, most useful options — one even narrowed results down to the correct state.
Some sites were inaccurate or confusing — one incorrectly labeled me British, and another described an accent as “high-pitched” based on written answers. We excluded those and focused on fast, easy quizzes that don’t require downloads or special apps. Most are free and give useful insights into regional speech patterns.
Babbel’s Dialect Quiz
Babbel’s American Dialect Quiz is quick, free, and doesn’t require an account. The 15-question quiz asks about pronunciation choices (for example, “how do you pronounce ‘lawyer’?”) and regional word use (do you call a carbonated drink soda, pop, or coke?).
The results show which U.S. region your accent most closely matches. In our tests the findings were generally correct but somewhat broad. For example, though I grew up in Virginia and don’t have a strong Southern drawl, the quiz labeled me “The South.” A friend from New Jersey was put in “The Northeast,” which is accurate but doesn’t reflect smaller local distinctions (Boston versus Brooklyn, for instance). Still, it’s a fast, accessible way to get a general sense of regional speech.
GoToQuiz’s What American Accent Do You Have?
GoToQuiz’s free American accent quiz is straightforward and concise at 13 questions. It focuses on vowel distinctions and regional pronunciation contrasts like pin vs. pen, caught vs. cot, and merry vs. mary. The site’s design feels dated and there are many ads that can look like quiz content, so be careful to click only the quiz controls to submit your answers.
Results were mixed for us. I received a “Midland” label, described as a relatively neutral accent. Growing up near Washington, D.C., my speech often sounds mixed and fairly neutral, so “Midland” wasn’t far off, though it didn’t pinpoint the region. The visual presentation — a chart showing how answers map across regions — is useful because many people have blended dialect features rather than a single pure regional accent.
NYT U.S. Dialect Quiz
Our top pick for accuracy and depth is The New York Times’ U.S. Dialect Quiz. It’s longer (25 questions) and sits behind a subscriber paywall, but the level of detail makes it worth considering. After each answer the quiz shows a colored heatmap indicating where that response is most common, and the final results present a clear geographic picture of your accent.
In our experience the NYT quiz produced very accurate maps for both of us. The heatmaps and the three cities highlighted as most likely nearly triangulated where we grew up. The quiz also adapts as you answer, changing later questions based on earlier responses to refine the regional estimate.
The NYT quiz also explains which answers were most diagnostic. For example, one telling response from me was calling a drive-through beer store “Brew Thru,” a name tied to the Outer Banks region. For my friend, the regional marker was the term “Mischief Night,” used in specific parts of the country on the night before Halloween. Those distinct vocabulary items helped pinpoint regional origins more precisely than generic pronunciation differences alone.
Note: The maps shown are from our 2026 results; we first wrote about this quiz when we tried it in 2013 and compared past and current maps for perspective.
Our Favorite Accent Tests: A Summary
All three quizzes are quick and entertaining, and trying more than one gives a fuller picture of how your speech aligns with regional patterns. Here’s a quick comparison of each test’s strengths:
- New York Times U.S. Dialect Quiz: The most accurate and detailed option. Best if you want an in-depth map of how individual answers relate to specific regions. Note: it requires a subscriber account.
- Babbel American Dialect Quiz: Clean, free, and easy to complete. Good for a fast, broad regional read on your accent.
- GoToQuiz American Accent Test: Quick and focused on vowel differences, with useful visual charts. Slightly less precise but worth taking for comparison.
Try all three to compare results and get a better sense of how your pronunciation and vocabulary reflect regional speech patterns. Each test highlights different features of dialect, and together they give a clearer, more nuanced view of where your accent fits in the U.S. landscape.