Sunbelt

American  

[suhn-belt] / ˈsʌnˌbɛlt /

Or Sun Belt

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

1. the southern and southwestern region of the U.S.

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Sunbelt British  

/ ˈsʌnˌbɛlt /

noun

1. the southern states of the USA

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Sunbelt Cultural  

1. States in the South and Southwest marked by warm climate, rapid economic and population growth in the last two decades, and (often) political conservatism.

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Etymology

Origin of Sunbelt

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

These metros largely dot the Sunbelt, a geographic area that stretches across the southern U.S. and is known for its abundance of home building.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

The hottest housing market in America isn’t a Sunbelt boomtown or a fast-growing Midwestern capital, such as Columbus, Ohio.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Say you’re on track to move to a resort community in a Sunbelt state with low taxes.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 26, 2025

The Lions moved to the Sunbelt League after finishing second in the River Valley last spring and Cortez will need to be sound defensively again.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2025

BellSouth was headquartered in Atlanta, ambitious metropolis of the new high-tech Sunbelt; and BellSouth was upgrading its network by leaps and bounds, digitizing the works left right and center.

From The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier by Sterling, Bruce