Mean center of the United States population
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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:
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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]
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After moving roughly Script error: No such module "convert". west by south during the 19th century, the shift in the mean center of population during the 20th century was less pronounced, moving Script error: No such module "convert". west and Script error: No such module "convert". 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, MarylandTemplate:Efn | 23 miles east of Baltimore | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | n/a |
| 1800 | Howard County, Maryland | 18 miles west of Baltimore | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 52 miles (84 km) |
| 1810 | Loudoun County, Virginia | 40 miles west-northwest of Washington, D.C. | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 47 miles (75 km) |
| 1820 | Hardy County, West VirginiaTemplate:Efn | 16 miles east of Moorefield | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 64 miles (103 km) |
| 1830 | Grant County, West VirginiaTemplate:Efn | 19 miles west-southwest of Moorefield | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 51 miles (81 km) |
| 1840 | Upshur County, West VirginiaTemplate:Efn | 16 miles south of Clarksburg | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 70 miles (113 km) |
| 1850 | Wirt County, West VirginiaTemplate:Efn | 23 miles southeast of Parkersburg | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 70 miles (113 km) |
| 1860 | Pike County, Ohio | 20 miles southeast of Chillicothe | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 103 miles (166 km) |
| 1870 | Highland County, Ohio | 48 miles northeast of Cincinnati | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 54 miles (87 km) |
| 1880 | Boone County, Kentucky | 8 miles southwest of Cincinnati | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 74 miles (119 km) |
| 1890 | Decatur County, Indiana | 20 miles east of Columbus | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 61 miles (99 km) |
| 1900 | Bartholomew County, Indiana | 6 miles southeast of Columbus | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 18 miles (30 km) |
| 1910 | Monroe County, Indiana | in the city of Bloomington | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 50 miles (80 km) |
| 1920 | Owen County, Indiana | 8 miles south-southeast of Spencer | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 13 miles (20 km) |
| 1930 | Greene County, Indiana | 3 miles northeast of Linton | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 29 miles (46 km) |
| 1940 | Sullivan County, Indiana | 2 miles east-southeast of Carlisle | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 17 miles (27 km) |
| 1950 | Richland County, IllinoisTemplate:Efn Clay County, IllinoisTemplate:Efn |
8 miles north-northwest of Olney 3 miles northeast of Louisville |
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54 miles (87 km) 69 miles (110 km) |
| 1960 | Clinton County, IllinoisTemplate:Efn | 6.5 miles northwest of Centralia | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 58 miles (93 km) |
| 1970 | St. Clair County, Illinois | 5 miles east-southeast of Mascoutah | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 34 miles (55 km) |
| 1980 | Jefferson County, Missouri | 0.3 mile west of DeSoto | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 60 miles (96 km) |
| 1990 | Crawford County, Missouri | 9.7 miles southeast of Steelville | Script error: No such module "Coordinates". | 44 miles (71 km) |
| 2000 | Phelps County, Missouri | 2.8 miles east of Edgar Springs | Script error: No such module "Coordinates".[4] | 41 miles (66 km) |
| 2010 | Texas County, Missouri | 2.7 miles northeast of Plato | Script error: No such module "Coordinates".[5] | 25 miles (40 km) |
| 2020 | Wright County, Missouri | 15 miles northeast of Hartville | Script error: No such module "Coordinates".[2] | 12 miles (19 km) |
See also
- Center of population
- Geographic center of the United States
- Geographic center of the contiguous United States
References
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d Centers of population computation, a U.S. Census Bureau publication, issued November 2021.
- ↑ 2000 U.S. Population Centered in Phelps County, Mo. Template:Webarchive, a U.S. Census Bureau press release.
- ↑ Centers of Population for the 2010 Census, U.S. Census Bureau.
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