Where in the USA does Greg Heffley live?

It has been stated in the movie diary that the location of Greg's hometown is up to the reader's imagination. Edit: finally I'm responding after 2 years and the replies are... quite the topic lol

In the Last Straw I believe, Greg’s soccer team names themselves the Red Socks, as they believe calling themselves the Red Sox would get them sued. The Red Sox is from Boston, so it makes sense the Heffleys live in Masachusetts or in New England.

It’s actually implied Greg lives in Plainville, Mass. A decently sized town about a little over an hour away from Boston. Jeff Kinney also resides in Plainville and has a cool book store there. (I live a few towns away)

he lives in “Plainville” similar to “plainview “ in New York ( which explains the snowing ) this is kind of a lose prediction but thought I’d share

MatPat would’ve turned this into a 30 minute video with ad breaks. Props to you

Greg lives in Plainville, MA because: -Jeff Kinney leaves in Plainville, MA and has a bookstore there -In the Do It Yourself Book, the road map begins in Massachusetts -In The Last Straw, Greg's soccer team is the Red Socks (Red Sox is copyrighted)

The funny part is in the movie diary, they state that it could have happened anytime anywhere :) Edit: Why you guys like this statement so much

In, I think, Dog Days(at least in the German version), it is said, that Greg and Frank spend time on the Rappahannock River in Virginia, its quite unlikely, that they drove cross the whole US only for this river, so its likely they live somewhere close to the river or at least East Coast, this also would fit to the weather experienced in the books.

There also a clue in the Rodrick Rules movie (I know it's not exactly canon but whatever) where their car licence plate looks like the ones seen in Ohio as well as some other vehicles seen in the film. So we can assume he very well likely lives there (or at least the Greg from the movie does).

Jeff Kinney occasionally hosts High School Quiz Show, a trivia competition for Boston area schools, so basing his series there makes perfect sense for that reason, too

I like when books leave geography intentionally vague or broad, it lets you engage a lot more. When I read these books I would find myself subconsciously applying the layouts of friends houses, my own school and town when visualizing

Oh shit the fan girls are coming

As someone from Nebraska, we know extreme hot and extreme cold way too well.

My guess: Greg lives somewhere in central Massachusetts in a suburban area near Worcester. It has tightly packed houses like in the book, and it also has places that are bumpy and have litter strewn about from the scene where he takes a suitcase to school.

That would also make sense with the street name. A lot of the New England region tends to name itself after English landmarks and cities, and Surry fits right into that

in one of the books (cant remember which) greg goes with rowley on a vacation with rowley's family to the ocean or a boardwalk, and greg hits rowley with a rubber band at around sunset, greg's dad then has to pick him up and he gets there at night-ish. so they live maybe 2+ hours from the ocean and apparently in the northeast. idk if this helps with anything, just wanted to say that

I always thought it was somewhere in Illinois because in one of the early books said they were the only state in the country that still requires P.E and until about a year ago Illinois was the only state during that time and the last few years to have that enforced in the USA

We get to finally meet Greg in real life...

I’ve always believed that he lives in Maryland. Considering Jeff was born there and he has said that he based the character on himself, I think it makes sense. Also the biggest snowstorm in that area of the last century happened when he was living in the dc area, so I think he got a lot of inspiration from that

I’m going to correct this. So there is a town in VA known as Purcellville, VA. I used to live there. I know it is because in the book “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down” on page 148 it shows Greg going into a music shop called “The Shamrock Shoppe.” This is a music store located in Purcellville. The reason Jeff Kinney included the shop is because his brother owns the store. The best part is that I used to live in that town lol.

My guess is either the midwest/northeast

In the movie diaries, Jeff Kinney states that the readers can think of Greg as someone who lives in the same street or the other side of the world based on their imagination, and that's why he didn't specify Greg's hometown in the books :)

In double down, Greg goes to a music store called “Shamrock Music Shoppe”, which is actually a real store in Virginia

I like how all of us are putting our heads together to find out where a kid from a book lives 😂 You love to see it 🤝💯

My guess is that he lives in the area of Maryland/Washington D.C./Virginia, because that is where the author spent his childhood and got his inspiration for the books. Besides the climate of the two areas, in terms of seasons, is pretty much the same just like anywhere in the East Coast, and Mid-Atlantic and New England are relatively close.

My theory is that Greg lives in Springfield’s State, aka the same state that the Simpsons live in. That would explain how the characters never age, since the state’s residents are perpetually frozen in time.

Considering Jeff Kinney lives in Massachusetts which is where I live and I’ve met him, I would say he probably lives in Massachusetts

I always assumed D.C. since that's where Jeff Kinney grew up, considering Greg is based off of his life

he actually lives in Virginia. i forgot which book its from lol but greg talks about going downtown to the music store. the music store he goes to is shamrock. shamrock is in purcelville Virginia. fun fact!

Jeff Kinney lives in Plainville, MA, so I think it makes sense Kinney set the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series in a place he’s very familiar with.

in the getaway, the plane trip is 6 hours, and is presumably to Mexico, so he def lives up north

On the news station in Rodrick Rules, there is a picture of the Capital Building. So it could be the DC, Maryland or Virginia suburbs.

I think that Greg CAN'T live in the USA because in Dog Days, when he's in the hair salon, Greg states that one of the tabloids said that the United States would be underwater within 6 months and he even went to say that he could take his mind off about a school test.

I’m thinking east coast for sure. As I kid I always thought they lived in jersey.

No way! I did this exact investigation years ago and got the same result. There’s a line in The Getaway where Greg mentions how long the plane flight was to Hawaii and that ended up checking out with flights from Boston to there. Also there’s a few mentions of the Red Sox too. Thanks for bringing back some good memories!

maine could be a possibility, the schools are similar to the books and our summers are incredibly hot especially with humidity and the snow during the winters are incredible. neighborhoods are similar too

They also wanted to call the soccer team the “Red Sox” in book three, adding to the Boston theme

He has to at least live somewhere where they regularly get hot summers and cold winters

There is actually a town called Brighton, Massachusetts, right by Boston, there is a 12 surrey street there. Look on maps. This is my theory to where Greg heffley lives.

In The Meltdown, the Goat Man is mentioned, which is a real urban myth purported to take refuge in the woods of Prince George's County, Maryland. Jeff Kinney grew up in Maryland and based a lot of DOAWK off his own personal experiences. So it’s very much possible that DOAWK could take place in Maryland.

“So we all know that Greg Heffley lives on 12 Surrley street” “We do?”

I thought he lived in Wisconsin, we have cold and hot days, it’s also snows frequently

Me at 3 am: I dont need sleep, I NEED ANSWERS

He once read a tabloid newspaper stating that the east coast would be underwater in a few years, being relieved because this would get him out of doing schoolwork in the future.

As a New Yorker, he could very well be from New York because New York snows a lot and is very hot during the summer

Plot twist: he’s the author of the book and knows everything

He lives in Maryland. Jeff Kinney grew up in Maryland, and there have been several references to the region in the series.

I used to live in Mass: annual 90-100 degree weather, annual blizzards or nor'easters. Fits Greg's description pretty well.

I thought he lived in Oregon because in the long haul movie it said 48 hours of the road to Indiana

We also know that he had a trip with his dad on the Potomac river? I don't live in the USA but I think it's Washington Maryland and stuff

i met jeff kinney at his book store in plainville massachusetts while he was hosting a high school quiz show tournament. such a great store and such a nice guy.

Greg lives in Plainview, New York. If you search up 12 Surrey Street and keep clicking on the ‘People also ask’ eventually the question ‘Where does Rowley Jefferson live?’ Pops up It says he was born in Ohio but moved to Plainview in 4th grade where he met Greg. If you search up Plainview it is in New York :)

Greg doesn’t live in the U.S he actually lives in North Korea

yay let’s leak someone’s location

I always thought Greg lived in the New England area. The little clues like Red Socks as Greg's soccer team and the Boston T-shirt thing, along with Jeff Kinney himself living in Massachusetts, it all just clicks in (btw I live in Boston)

In Big Shot page 131, Greg says he lives twenty minutes from a town named Franklin. That's an actual town in Massachusetts, so it's confirmed

That’s cool and all, but what does Fregly’s note say

New york, Plainview, Surret street,12

Actually, I think the biggest clue is that in Double Down, the 'Balloon Brigade' pages actually has a map, showing us a relative idea of where Greg's school is. Of course, I am not familiar enough with the U.S to figure out which state it is because there aren't names.

I think he lives in Connecticut just because of the weather and because of dog days when they went to that Amusement Park and also because of the houses

Ah yes, stretching a question you can find out in 2 seconds by googling it stretched out into a minute long video. Gotta love this shit

I’ve always wanted for book reports

In the online diary there’s a line about Kings Island (in n Cincinnati) being 100 miles away. That would put the online version of Greg in the Midwest somewhere (probably not the upper south because he still gets snow)

Also shouldve mentioned when Greg was in the football team and his teammates wanted to name it "Red sox"

I think it’s cannon that he lives in Plainville Illinois

I would like to point out that 12 Surrey Street is literally a place in the suburbs of Boston. Google Maps ftw

In one of the books (I forget which) it’s mentioned that he and his dad went canoeing in the Rappahannock river, which is in Virginia, so he most definitely lives on the east coast, probably Maryland, New Jersey or Delaware based on the proximity to both Boston and Virginia

It’s 2021, let’s geolocate Greg freakin’ Heffley

It was revealed in the second live action movie that the town that Greg lives in is called Plainview

This is what I subscribe for finding out where a cartoon character i haven’t thought about for 4 and a half years lives

I have read a lot of doawk fanfics, and they say that greg lives in a town called plainview, and, as someone who did a bookreport on doawk, i have had to read about the author, Jeff Kinney, who lives in Plainville, Massachusets, leading me to the conclusion that Greg Heffley, and his family reside in Plainville, Massachusets.

Jeff Kinney used to live in Purcellvill VA where his brother currently owns a music store called Shamrock Music. I only know this Bc I live right down the road and frequent the store. BTW if you want signed copy’s of new release go there. Great people and good times

In the do it yourself books, one of them has a map with a road trip map at shows it beginning in North Carolina, but I think it’s closer to plainville Massachusetts

I always figured with the Masachusetts references scattered through the series like The Red Sox, a baseball team, mentioned in book 3 that Greg and his family live in that state. Funnily enough the movies were filmed in Vancouver.

He mentions “six flags” at some point, I’ve never heard of it but I think it’s some sort of amusement park

Jeff Kinney is from Maryland so possibly based off his own experience A lot of Greg’s plots are based off of Kinney’s own experience, the neon posters on the school thing for example. Jeff Kinney actually did that in college

“he lives in a region that’s both hot and cold” *yes, planet earth.*

jeff kinney grew up in plainville, massachusetts. he’s said that a lot of his writing is based on stories from his childhood. so it makes sense that greg’s town would be loosely based on plainville

Always down for some DWK lore analysis

Honestly i always thought the Heffleys live in the Midwest for some reason. It gives me Midwest vibes

In Double Down, during the balloon brigade, theres a map. The states look rather distorted, but the area where the school is looks like its in the southeast corner over a state that looks like Michigan. It also appears the state under it on the western side looks like Indiana, and theres an area that appears to potentially be a body of water with a state similar to Wisconsin on the west of that. However it may just be a county map, especially since most area are distorted (ie: the state similar to michigan has the same shape but flipped)

The soccer team he’s on also names themselves the Red Sox and I’m from Massachusetts so when I was a kid I remember pointing out a bunch of things that seemed like they were based on New England

In The Meltdown, Greg also questions why their ancestors didn't pick somewhere warmer to live. Under this is a drawing of what appears to be the pilgrims. This also supports the idea that Greg lives in Massachusetts.

Greg resides in Plainview which I think is in New York. And the description of snow in winter and hot temperatures and summer fits New York perfectly

According to ‘The Long Haul’ Greg goes on a 4-5 day road trip to Indiana which tells us he probably lives in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan or Kentucky.

There's actually a 12 Surrey Street located directly in Boston. Not sure if Jeff did this on purpose, but the pieces line up pretty well for this to fit.

Also, in book 12, we can tell his location is a 6-hour flight away from a Spanish-speaking tropical area.

Plainville, Massachusetts! The author of the book actually built a bookstore here called Unlikely Story and his writing studio is located there! ☺️ I highly recommend checking it out

there are actually two 12 surrey streets in Massachusetts, one in Boston and one in Cambridge there is also a town called Plainville in Massachusetts

Also in dog days they are within a relatively short driving distance from the beach. They only had to drive a handful of hours to get there with Rowley so it can’t be that far inland of a state

Actually it is in Massachusetts 100%. In the movie diary they say where Greg was born and he most likely lived there.

Plainville is actually a town in Massachusetts not too far from where I grew up which is also where Jeff Kinney resides and where he owns a book store which I actually got to meet him a while ago.

If you look real closely in the movies, which are probably a different canon from the books, the liscense plates of the cars are reminiscent of Idaho's liscense plates. So it could be somewhere in Idaho.

I belive that in one of the books, the school does a competition to see whose baloon can fly the farthest. In the book, there's a chart shown of where several of the balloons went, and they all converge in (I belive) Indiana, so I always thought Greg lived there.

It's Washington state, I looked up the address and saw it in that area. I believe the movies also mention that Holly moved from Oregon, which is close.

my man really out here doxxing greg heffley

He might actually live in Arizona, because in the book, Greg and Rowley were arguing how the goat man would look, and the goat man is an Arizonan Urban Legend.

As someone who lived in Britain for most of their life, 'Surrey Street' made me think of somewhere in New England.

in the movie, rodrick rules, Cirag Gupta says: "Holly Hills moved here in Oregon because of her dad's big promotion"

I also think he lives there now because in (I think) dog days the winter weather changes to very warm weather for like a day or two, and that’s somewhat common here