Does getting put on hold make you slam down the phone in frustration? How likely you are to react like this may depend on where you live.

Americans will likely waste more than 900 million hours waiting on hold this year, according to an analysis of more than four million phone calls from consumers to businesses released this week by mobile advertising analytics firm Marchex. And a survey by text-message service TalkTo found that more than half of Americans say they spend 10 to 20 minutes every week — or 43 days of their life — on hold.

To consumers, this is incredibly irritating: One survey found that being put on hold was one of consumers’ top three phone pet peeves (the other two were automated attendants and the person on the other line having bad manners, or having a bad attitude).

In some states, residents are far less patient with a customer service representative or assistant who puts them on hold. People who live in Kentucky are the fastest to hang up, followed by those in Ohio, North Carolina, New York and West Virginia, the Marchex analysis finds. Residents in these five states were more than twice as likely as those in the bottom to five to hang up when put on hold.

Marchex

Residents of Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia may be quick to hang up because they live in a culture where politeness is valued, and customer service agents often aren’t that mannerly, says John Busby, the senior vice president of marketing and consumer insights at Marchex; rather than confront them on this, they hang up. (Although, of course, many might be so polite they stay on the line.) On the other hand, New Yorkers may land on top of the list simply because they may, in fact, be less patient or have less time to spend on hold. (The states highlighted in gray on the above map land in the middle of the patience spectrum.)

The best travel perk you've never heard of

Meanwhile, people in Louisiana, Colorado, Florida, Illinois and Minnesota will stay on hold the longest, hanging up less than half as often as those who live in the most impatient states.

The good news: There are ways you can avoid getting put on hold for a long time. First, call in the morning. A study by customer service software firm ZenDesk found that between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. (the earlier the better in this window), you will typically get the fastest response; wait until the afternoon, and response time triples.

Second, use the technology available to make your experience better. First, consider a free app like LucyPhone, which will wait on hold for you and alert you when the customer service agent finally picks up. Next, check out sites like GetHuman and ContactHelp, which can provide you with alternate customer service contacts that may have less wait time.

Finally, most companies now have many other ways to contact them for help — ranging from email to web chats — that won’t require you to wait on the phone, and many will even call you back. Experts say it’s also worth using social media to reach out to many companies.