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Demographic statistic
Map showing changes to the mean center of population for the United States, 1790–2020 (US Census Bureau)[ 1]
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)[ 2]
The center of the US population, 13th census, near Bloomington, Indiana
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 miles (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 miles (521 km) west and 101 miles (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 .
US Census
County
Location description[ 3]
Decimal coordinates[ 3]
Distance from previous point[ 3]
1790
Kent County, Maryland [ a]
23 miles east of Baltimore
39°16′30″N 76°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″N 76°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″N 77°37′12″W / 39.19167°N 77.62000°W / 39.19167; -77.62000
47 miles (75 km)
1820
Hardy County, West Virginia [ b]
16 miles east of Moorefield
39°05′42″N 78°33′00″W / 39.09500°N 78.55000°W / 39.09500; -78.55000
64 miles (103 km)
1830
Grant County, West Virginia [ b]
19 miles west-southwest of Moorefield
38°57′54″N 79°16′54″W / 38.96500°N 79.28167°W / 38.96500; -79.28167
51 miles (81 km)
1840
Upshur County, West Virginia [ b]
16 miles south of Clarksburg
39°02′00″N 80°18′00″W / 39.03333°N 80.30000°W / 39.03333; -80.30000
70 miles (113 km)
1850
Wirt County, West Virginia [ b]
23 miles southeast of Parkersburg
38°59′00″N 81°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″N 82°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″N 83°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″N 84°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″N 85°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″N 85°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″N 86°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″N 86°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″N 87°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″N 87°22′35″W / 38.94833°N 87.37639°W / 38.94833; -87.37639
17 miles (27 km)
1950
Richland County, Illinois [ c] Clay County, Illinois [ d]
8 miles north-northwest of Olney 3 miles northeast of Louisville
38°50′21″N 88°09′33″W / 38.83917°N 88.15917°W / 38.83917; -88.15917 38°48′15″N 88°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 [ e]
6.5 miles northwest of Centralia
38°35′58″N 89°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″N 89°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″N 90°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″N 91°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″N 91°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″N 92°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″N 92°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]
^ a b c d 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]
^ "Mean Center of Population for the United States: 1790 to 2020" (PDF) . Archived (PDF) from the original on November 16, 2021.
^ a b Bureau, US Census. "Position of the Geographic Center of Area, Mean and Median Centers of Population: 2020" . Census.gov . Retrieved December 28, 2021 .
^ a b c d e Centers of population computation , a U.S. Census Bureau publication, issued November 2021.
^ a b c 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.