Sorry for responding so late. It's fall break here and I've been with the kids this week. - And coming home after sunset. :)
anikom15 used Russia as an example of high-latitude. Most of the US is below the 49th parallel. That's about where Paris is. Very little of Russia is below the 49th.
I'm at 58 degrees north, about level with Juneau, Alaska.
So I don't think the people in the lower 48 live in what anikom15 regards as "high-latitudes." Certainly I don't think that.
For another example to think of, Iceland uses UTC, although it's west enough that they are about 1 hour ahead of mean solar time.