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Third Coast is an American colloquialism sometimes used in the U. S. for regions other than the "East Coast" and the "West Coast". It most likely came into favor in the early 20th century when Milwaukee was considered "Deutsches Athen" (German Athens) or "Athens of the Midwest" due to its generally socialist political leanings. It became especially popular in the general Great Lakes region during the 1960s when major coastal lake cities and college campuses throughout the area became hotbeds for extreme political and social movements. Although the term is still common in many areas of the Great Lakes, the term is most commonly linked to the city of Chicago (see Third Coast International Audio Festival and Third Coast Press), given its influential world status.

Third Coast cities generally have large metropolitan populations, liberal voting records, are left of center, tend to be regional, national and sometimes, world leaders in culture, industry, or business and are located on or near large bodies of water besides oceans. Some of these cities include (but are not limited to) Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit and Cleveland, the latter of which preferring "North Coast". Places outside of the Great Lakes where the term "third coast" has become more common in recent years are Atlanta and Houston. In these cities the connotation of the term differs from the connotation in the Great Lakes. It is less a reflection of shared political and cultural views between regions and has a great deal more to do with pop culture in recent years, especially in the music genre of rap. These two cities generated unique hip-hop styles known as "screw" or "dirty soul", and local rappers sometimes refer to their region as the "third coast" or "dirty third". Additionally, the city of Nashville is sometimes referred to as the "third coast" because of its role as a center for country music.

• Gulf Coast of the United States, which could also lay claim to being a third coast