That may be the anxiety that causes their behavior, but it’s an anxiety borne out of their own preconceptions. You don’t have to do anything in particular to set them off: mere passive existence is enough.

At least, in my experience.

I think maybe their own anxiety about thinking an outsider is going to tell them how to live could be causing it, but Im definitely not making suggestions for them. There have been multiple times at bars where the extent of the conversation was "hey how are you" -> "oh where are you from" -> "oh why dont you go back there" and thats it.

I try to fit in the best I can, but there are still obvious differences in how I dress, and probably in how I act, but I definitely wouldnt see myself as hostile towards the people around me.

If someone said a lot of people in a city were rude, there probably wouldnt be second thoughts about it, but it seems that a lot of people, especially in hn-type cultures idealize rural people and how they think they will act.

Somewhat tangentially, Id say that current politics and the whole "California boogeyman" make this trend significantly worse overall

Or he is just visibly noticeably different. Some rural places have in fact hostile culture. Others don't, sure, but some really do.