The mean 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 at which an imaginary, flat, weightless, and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if weights of identical value were placed on it so that each weight represented the location of one person on the date of the census.After moving roughly 600 mi (966 km) West by south during the 19th century, during the 20th century the shift in the mean center of population was less pronounced, moving 324 mi (521 km) west and 101 mi (163 km) south. The southerly movement was much stronger during the second half of the 20th century; 79% of the southerly movement happened between 1950 and 2000.
The following lists location information of the mean center of U.S. population since 1790:
| US Census | County | Location description | decimal Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1790 | Kent County, Maryland 1.) | 23 miles east of Baltimore. | 39°16′30″N 76°11′12″W / 39.27500°N 76.18667°W / 39.27500; -76.18667 |
| 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 |
| 1810 | Loudoun County, Virginia | 40 miles northwest by west of Washington, DC. | 39°11′30″N 77°37′12″W / 39.19167°N 77.62000°W / 39.19167; -77.62000 |
| 1820 | Hardy County, Virginia (now W. Virginia) 2.) | 16 miles east of Moorefield. | 39°05′42″N 78°33′00″W / 39.09500°N 78.55000°W / 39.09500; -78.55000 |
| 1830 | Grant County, Virginia (now W. Virginia) 2.) | 19 miles west-southwest of Moorefield. | 38°57′54″N 79°16′54″W / 38.96500°N 79.28167°W / 38.96500; -79.28167 |
| 1840 | Upshur County, Virginia (now W. Virginia) 2.) | 16 miles south of Clarksburg. | 39°02′00″N 80°18′00″W / 39.03333°N 80.30000°W / 39.03333; -80.30000 |
| 1850 | Wirt County, Virginia (now W. Virginia) 2.) | 23 miles southeast of Parkersburg. | 38°59′00″N 81°19′00″W / 38.98333°N 81.31667°W / 38.98333; -81.31667 |
| 1860 | Pike County, Ohio | 20 miles south by east of Chillcothe. | 39°00′24″N 82°48′48″W / 39.00667°N 82.81333°W / 39.00667; -82.81333 |
| 1870 | Highland County, Ohio | 48 miles east by north of Cincinnati. | 39°12′00″N 83°35′42″W / 39.20000°N 83.59500°W / 39.20000; -83.59500 |
| 1880 | Boone County, Kentucky | 8 miles west by south of Cincinnati, OH. | 39°04′08″N 84°39′40″W / 39.06889°N 84.66111°W / 39.06889; -84.66111 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 1940 | Sullivan County, Indiana | 2 miles southeast by east of Carlisle. | 38°56′54″N 87°22′35″W / 38.94833°N 87.37639°W / 38.94833; -87.37639 |
| 1950 | Richland County, Illinois 3.) | 8 miles north-northwest of Olney. 3.) | 38°50′21″N 88°09′33″W / 38.83917°N 88.15917°W / 38.83917; -88.15917 3.) |
| 1950 | Clay County, Illinois 4.) | 3 miles northeast of Louisville. 4.) | 38°48′15″N 88°22′08″W / 38.80417°N 88.36889°W / 38.80417; -88.36889 4.) |
| 1960 | Clinton County, Illinois 5.) | 6-1/2 miles northwest of Centralia. 5.) | 38°35′58″N 89°12′35″W / 38.59944°N 89.20972°W / 38.59944; -89.20972 5.) |
| 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 |
| 1980 | Jefferson County, Missouri | 1/4 mile west of DeSoto. | 38°08′13″N 90°34′26″W / 38.13694°N 90.57389°W / 38.13694; -90.57389 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 2011 (estimated) | Texas County, Missouri | .5 miles southeast of Plato. | 37°30′05″N 92°12′58″W / 37.50134°N 92.21608°W / 37.50134; -92.21608 |
| 2020 (projected) | Wright County, Missouri | 9.5 miles north of Hartville. | 37°23′17″N 92°31′01″W / 37.38801°N 92.51697°W / 37.38801; -92.51697 |
The 20.9 mile shift projected for the 2010–2020 period would be the shortest centroid movement since the Great Depression intercensus period of 1930–1940.
Notes on the table data
- In the first census (1790) the mean population center was near Chestertown, Maryland.
- The mean population centers of 1820, 1830, 1840 and 1850 were in what is now West Virginia, given West Virginia's split from Virginia in 1863.
- Computation method used until 1950
- Current computation method
- The addition of Alaska and Hawaii to the union moved the center about two miles (3 km) farther south and about ten miles (16 km) farther west in 1960.
Famous quotes containing the words center, united, states and/or population:
“Placing the extraordinary at the center of the ordinary, as realism does, is a great comfort to us stay-at-homes.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“It is a united will, not mere walls, which makes a fort.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Sean Thornton: I don’t get this. Why do we have to have you along. Back in the states I’d drive up, honk the horn, a gal’d come runnin’ out.
Mary Kate Danaher: Come a runnin’. I’m no woman to be honked at and come a runnin’.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)
“The population of the world is a conditional population; these are not the best, but the best that could live in the existing state of soils, gases, animals, and morals: the best that could yet live; there shall be a better, please God.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)