Mean center of the United States population

	Map all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap
	Download coordinates as: KML

Last updated July 07, 2023

Map of the Position of the U.S. Geographic Center of Area, Mean Center of Population, and Median Center of Population, 2020 (U.S. Census Bureau) UScenter2020.png — Map of the Position of the U.S. Geographic Center of Area, Mean Center of Population, and Median Center of Population, 2020 (U.S. Census Bureau)

The center of the US population, 13th census (1910), near Bloomington, Indiana US-center-pop.jpg — The center of the US population, 13th census (1910), near Bloomington, Indiana

The mean center of the United States population is determined by the United States Census Bureau from the results of each national census. The Bureau defines it as follows:

The concept of the center of population as used by the U.S. Census Bureau is that of a balance point. The center of population is the point at which an imaginary, weightless, rigid, and flat (no elevation effects) surface representation of the 50 states (or 48 conterminous states for calculations made prior to 1960) and the District of Columbia would balance if weights of identical size were placed on it so that each weight represented the location of one person. More specifically, this calculation is called the mean center of population.^[3]

After moving roughly 600 mi (966 km) west by south during the 19th century, the shift in the mean center of population during the 20th century was less pronounced, moving 324 mi (521 km) west and 101 mi (163 km) south. Nearly 79% of the overall southerly movement happened between 1950 and 2000.

One occasional confusion is the misconception that the point splits the US population into two equal halves, such that half of Americans live east of the point, and the other half west of it, however, this is actually a property of the median center of US population, which is not weighted by geographic distance and lies in Gibson County, Indiana.

Location information since 1790

US Census	County	Location description^[3]	Decimal coordinates^[3]	Distance from previous point^[3]
1790	Kent County, Maryland ^{[lower-alpha 1]}	23 miles east of Baltimore	39°16′30″N76°11′12″W / 39.27500°N 76.18667°W / 39.27500; -76.18667	n/a
1800	Howard County, Maryland	18 miles west of Baltimore	39°16′06″N76°56′30″W / 39.26833°N 76.94167°W / 39.26833; -76.94167	52 miles (84 km)
1810	Loudoun County, Virginia	40 miles west-northwest of Washington, D.C.	39°11′30″N77°37′12″W / 39.19167°N 77.62000°W / 39.19167; -77.62000	47 miles (75 km)
1820	Hardy County, West Virginia ^{[lower-alpha 2]}	16 miles east of Moorefield	39°05′42″N78°33′00″W / 39.09500°N 78.55000°W / 39.09500; -78.55000	64 miles (103 km)
1830	Grant County, West Virginia ^{[lower-alpha 2]}	19 miles west-southwest of Moorefield	38°57′54″N79°16′54″W / 38.96500°N 79.28167°W / 38.96500; -79.28167	51 miles (81 km)
1840	Upshur County, West Virginia ^{[lower-alpha 2]}	16 miles south of Clarksburg	39°02′00″N80°18′00″W / 39.03333°N 80.30000°W / 39.03333; -80.30000	70 miles (113 km)
1850	Wirt County, West Virginia ^{[lower-alpha 2]}	23 miles southeast of Parkersburg	38°59′00″N81°19′00″W / 38.98333°N 81.31667°W / 38.98333; -81.31667	70 miles (113 km)
1860	Pike County, Ohio	20 miles southeast of Chillicothe	39°00′24″N82°48′48″W / 39.00667°N 82.81333°W / 39.00667; -82.81333	103 miles (166 km)
1870	Highland County, Ohio	48 miles northeast of Cincinnati	39°12′00″N83°35′42″W / 39.20000°N 83.59500°W / 39.20000; -83.59500	54 miles (87 km)
1880	Boone County, Kentucky	8 miles southwest of Cincinnati	39°04′08″N84°39′40″W / 39.06889°N 84.66111°W / 39.06889; -84.66111	74 miles (119 km)
1890	Decatur County, Indiana	20 miles east of Columbus	39°11′56″N85°32′53″W / 39.19889°N 85.54806°W / 39.19889; -85.54806	61 miles (99 km)
1900	Bartholomew County, Indiana	6 miles southeast of Columbus	39°09′36″N85°48′54″W / 39.16000°N 85.81500°W / 39.16000; -85.81500	18 miles (30 km)
1910	Monroe County, Indiana	in the city of Bloomington	39°10′12″N86°32′20″W / 39.17000°N 86.53889°W / 39.17000; -86.53889	50 miles (80 km)
1920	Owen County, Indiana	8 miles south-southeast of Spencer	39°10′21″N86°43′15″W / 39.17250°N 86.72083°W / 39.17250; -86.72083	13 miles (20 km)
1930	Greene County, Indiana	3 miles northeast of Linton	39°03′45″N87°08′06″W / 39.06250°N 87.13500°W / 39.06250; -87.13500	29 miles (46 km)
1940	Sullivan County, Indiana	2 miles east-southeast of Carlisle	38°56′54″N87°22′35″W / 38.94833°N 87.37639°W / 38.94833; -87.37639	17 miles (27 km)
1950	Richland County, Illinois ^{[lower-alpha 3]} Clay County, Illinois ^{[lower-alpha 4]}	8 miles north-northwest of Olney 3 miles northeast of Louisville	38°50′21″N88°09′33″W / 38.83917°N 88.15917°W / 38.83917; -88.15917 38°48′15″N88°22′08″W / 38.80417°N 88.36889°W / 38.80417; -88.36889	54 miles (87 km) 69 miles (110 km)
1960	Clinton County, Illinois ^{[lower-alpha 5]}	6.5 miles northwest of Centralia	38°35′58″N89°12′35″W / 38.59944°N 89.20972°W / 38.59944; -89.20972	58 miles (93 km)
1970	St. Clair County, Illinois	5 miles east-southeast of Mascoutah	38°27′47″N89°42′22″W / 38.46306°N 89.70611°W / 38.46306; -89.70611	34 miles (55 km)
1980	Jefferson County, Missouri	0.3 mile west of DeSoto	38°08′13″N90°34′26″W / 38.13694°N 90.57389°W / 38.13694; -90.57389	60 miles (96 km)
1990	Crawford County, Missouri	9.7 miles southeast of Steelville	37°52′20″N91°12′55″W / 37.87222°N 91.21528°W / 37.87222; -91.21528	44 miles (71 km)
2000	Phelps County, Missouri	2.8 miles east of Edgar Springs	37°41′49″N91°48′34″W / 37.696987°N 91.809567°W / 37.696987; -91.809567 ^[4]	41 miles (66 km)
2010	Texas County, Missouri	2.7 miles northeast of Plato	37°31′03″N92°10′23″W / 37.517534°N 92.173096°W / 37.517534; -92.173096 ^[5]	25 miles (40 km)
2020	Wright County, Missouri	15 miles northeast of Hartville	37°24′57″N92°20′47″W / 37.415725°N 92.346525°W / 37.415725; -92.346525 ^[2]	12 miles (19 km)

↑ In the first census (1790), the mean population center was about 7.4 miles northwest by west of Chestertown, Maryland.^[4]
1 2 3 4 The mean population centers of 1820, 1830, 1840 and 1850 were in Virginia at the time of their censuses, before West Virginia's split from Virginia in 1863.^[4]
↑ Computation method used until 1950.
↑ Current computation method.
↑ The addition of Alaska and Hawaii to the union in 1959 contributed to moving the mean center of population about 2 miles (3.2 km) farther south and about 10 miles (16 km) farther west in the 1960 census.^[3]

Related Research Articles

Clay County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 13,288. Since 1842, its county seat has been Louisville, in the center of the county's area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington County, Virginia</span> County in Virginia, United States

Washington County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,935. Its county seat is Abingdon.

Tice is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 4,853. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Louisa is a home-rule class city located in eastern Kentucky at the merger of the Levisa and Tug Forks into the Big Sandy River, which forms part of the state's border with West Virginia. It is located in Lawrence County the seat of its county. The population was 2,467 at the 2010 census and an estimated 2,375 in 2018.

Henry Clay Township is a township in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,765 at the 2020 census. The township was created June 9, 1824, from the eastern portion of Wharton Township. It is named for 19th-century American statesman Henry Clay. The northwestern corner of its territory was used to create Stewart Township on November 17, 1855. It is served by the Uniontown Area School District.

Rustburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Campbell County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,431 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Centreville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States and a suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 73,518 as of the 2020 census. Centreville is approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Washington, D.C.

Idylwood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 17,954 as of the 2020 census. It originally developed as a suburban community along the route of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, and later along Virginia State Route 7. The construction of the Capital Beltway in the 1960s, and I-66 and the Orange Line of the Washington Metrorail system in the 1980s, as well as the concurrent development of nearby Tysons Corner into Washington's leading suburban business district, led to the development of several apartment, townhouse, and small-lot single-family housing complexes, as well as the high-rise Idylwood Towers condominium, in the portion of Idylwood lying to the north of I-66. The area to the south of I-66 remains primarily large-lot single-family.

Lincolnia is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 22,828 at the 2010 census, an increase of over 44% from 2000.

Wolf Trap is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 16,131 at the 2010 census. Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is located in the CDP.

Gloucester Point is a census-designated place (CDP) in Gloucester County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,402 at the 2010 census. It is home to the College of William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science, a graduate school for the study of oceanography.

Tuckahoe is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henrico County, Virginia, United States. It is a western suburb of Richmond. The population of Tuckahoe was 44,990 at the 2010 census. It is named after the area's history as the site of Thomas Randolph's Tuckahoe Plantation which still stands along the James River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ewing, Virginia</span> Census-designated place in Virginia, United States

Ewing is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Virginia. The population was 439 at the 2010 U.S. Census. Ewing is one of the westernmost settlements in the Commonwealth of Virginia, before reaching the Cumberland Gap and the borders with Kentucky and Tennessee.

Capon Bridge is a town in eastern Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States, along the Northwestern Turnpike, approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Winchester, Virginia. The population was 418 at the 2020 census. Originally known as "Glencoe", Capon Bridge was incorporated in 1902 by the Hampshire County Circuit Court. It is named because of the construction of the bridge over the Cacapon River at that place, the name of the river being derived from the Shawnee Cape-cape-de-hon, meaning "river of medicine water".

Ripley is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 3,074 at the 2020 census.

Cross Lanes is a census-designated place (CDP) and suburb of Charleston in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 9,995.

Beverly is a town in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. Founded in 1787, it is the oldest settlement in the Tygart River Valley. It had a population of 628 at the 2020 census. Beverly was the county seat of Randolph County for over a century—from 1790 until 1899—after which the nearby settlement of Elkins assumed that role following an intense local political "war".

Jarratt is a town in Greensville and Sussex counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 652 at the 2020 census. In 1848, Jarratt was a stop on the Petersburg Railroad. Jaratt was incorporated in 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center of population</span> Geographical point

In demographics, the center of population of a region is a geographical point that describes a centerpoint of the region's population. There are several ways of defining such a "center point", leading to different geographical locations; these are often confused.

The median center of U.S. population is determined by the United States Census Bureau from the results of each census. The Bureau defines it to be:

the point through which a north-south line and an east-west line each divides the total population of the country in half.

References

↑ "Mean Center of Population for the United States: 1790 to 2020" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 16, 2021.
1 2 Bureau, US Census. "Position of the Geographic Center of Area, Mean and Median Centers of Population: 2020". Census.gov. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
1 2 3 4 5 Centers of population computation, a U.S. Census Bureau publication, issued November 2021.
1 2 3 2000 U.S. Population Centered in Phelps County, Mo. Archived December 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , a U.S. Census Bureau press release.
↑ Centers of Population for the 2010 Census, U.S. Census Bureau.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[a-5] In the first census (1790), the mean population center was about 7.4 miles northwest by west of Chestertown, Maryland.^[4]

[b-6] 1 2 3 4 The mean population centers of 1820, 1830, 1840 and 1850 were in Virginia at the time of their censuses, before West Virginia's split from Virginia in 1863.^[4]

[c-7] Computation method used until 1950.

[d-8] Current computation method.

[e-9] The addition of Alaska and Hawaii to the union in 1959 contributed to moving the mean center of population about 2 miles (3.2 km) farther south and about 10 miles (16 km) farther west in the 1960 census.^[3]

[1] "Mean Center of Population for the United States: 1790 to 2020" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 16, 2021.

[center-2] 1 2 Bureau, US Census. "Position of the Geographic Center of Area, Mean and Median Centers of Population: 2020". Census.gov. Retrieved December 28, 2021.

[calculation-3] 1 2 3 4 5 Centers of population computation, a U.S. Census Bureau publication, issued November 2021.

[press-4] 1 2 3 2000 U.S. Population Centered in Phelps County, Mo. Archived December 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , a U.S. Census Bureau press release.

[10] Centers of Population for the 2010 Census, U.S. Census Bureau.

[3]

[lower-alpha 1]

[lower-alpha 2]

[lower-alpha 3]

[lower-alpha 4]

[lower-alpha 5]

[4]

[5]

[2]

Mean center of the United States population

Contents

Location information since 1790

See also

Related Research Articles

References