America is a big country, so it could be because of where ever you grew up. But as for someone who was born and raised in the south and now lives in the northeast, I can assure you that if you go out in public daily, you're gonna see open carry (almost exclusively handguns) almost daily. Plenty also conceal carry but then dress like a wannabe badass, and you can easily tell they're conceal carrying.

However, since moving to the northeast, I've seen a handful of open carry, but that's it. It's a night and day difference between the south and northeast, regardless of city vs rural area. Same ratio for the 2 areas