The article is based on materials from a study carried out by employees of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2017–2019. The study was conducted among young people living in two small towns in Central Russia – Belev, Tula region and Staritsa, Tver region. The issues of local-territorial identity of young residents of the Russian province, their attitude to their native city and the local environment are analyzed. An analysis of the sociological survey data made it possible to conclude that at present, territorial identity and love for their city were characteristic of a considerable part of the provincial youth, but these indicators varied markedly. The prevalence of young people’s orientations towards their city decreased in more developed, urbanized, open cities, with a rolling stock of the local population, wider contacts with the ”outside world”, a higher level of education, etc. In less urbanized cities, local-territorial identity and love for their city were more frequent. At the same time, local residents experienced less satisfaction with living conditions and showed more pronounced migration activity.