In my piston powered single, I have never received a STAR, and
most of my flying has been in the busy areas of the NE around
Boston and New York.

This surprises me, Ron, because I used to get the Trinity One arrival
every time I went to Houston, and I once got a STAR (can't remember
which one) going to Atlanta.

I frequently fly between Portland,OR and Seattle and my observation
has been that altitude is what makes a difference between navigating
an airway segment and getting a STAR. Under 10K, the clearance is
usually via an airway, in this case BTG-V23-SEA. But pop above 10,000'
and you suddenly get "direct BTG, resume the Olympia-5 *arrival*" (its
about 150nm or so, so the STAR actually starts at my departure point
;-).

I bet if you divided the "I always get a STAR" and "I never got one"
responses, you might find one of the differences is in the typical
enroute altitudes flown...