Despite variations between the many subgroups, the vast majority of Old Order Amish communities terminate formal education at the eighth grade, meet in homes for religious services, wear distinctive plain clothing, and reject television, online access, and public utility electricity. Despite these distinctive practices a lot of people confuse the Amish with other somewhat similar groups who are not, in fact, Amish at all. As well, the Amish continue to emphasize symbolic separations from the world, such as plain clothes, selective use of technology, reliance on horsepower for local travel and farm (field) work, the use of the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect of German, and many other practices. The Old Order Amish shun personal home-based telephones but will occasionally use a communal one. They also eschew automobiles. They ride bicycles and drive horse-drawn buggies instead, though many of them will, on occasion and in emergencies, ride in cars, trains, and buses operated by others.

Although the buggies are traditional boxlike vehicles, they are not always black, as commonly thought; some of them are white, gray, or even yellow, and many Amish and Mennonite groups can be distinguished by their chosen color of buggy. The buggies may also be equipped with such modern conveniences as heaters, windshield wipers, and upholstered seats. The use of electricity, however, is strongly avoided, as it is a prime connection to the world that could lead to temptations and worldly amenities detrimental to the community and family life; occasional exceptions to this ban have involved Amish who must use electric flashers on their buggies in order to drive legally in their communities and certain farm equipment that could not be operated without a minimal amount of electricity and without which the community’s economic livelihood would be threatened; for example, certain milking equipment may be impossible to operate without some electricity, and electric fences may be deemed critical for keeping cattle.

Bottle gas is often used to operate appliances, even barbecue grills, and gas-pressured lanterns and lamps might be used for indoor lighting. The New Order Amish permit the use of electricity, the owning of cars, and telephones in the home. The Amish do not usually educate their children past the eighth grade, believing that the basic knowledge offered up to that point is sufficient to prepare one for the Amish lifestyle. Almost no Amish go to high school and college. In many communities, the Amish operate their own schools, which are typically one-room schoolhouses with teachers (usually young, unmarried women) from the Amish community. The Amish are subject to sales and property taxes. As they seldom own motor vehicles, they rarely have occasion to pay motor vehicle registration fees or spend money on the purchase of fuel for vehicles. Under their beliefs and traditions, generally the Amish do not agree with the idea of Social Security benefits and have a religious objection to insurance. On this basis, the United States Internal Revenue Service agreed in 1961 that they did not need to pay Social Security-related taxes.