Geography
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Centers of Population
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.
Maps
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Position of the Geographic Center of Area, Mean and Median Centers of Population 2010 [PDF]
Map illustrating the geographic, mean and median centers of population for 2010. -
Mean Center of Population for the United States: 1790 to 2010 [PDF]
Map illustrating the mean center of population for the United States from 1790 to 2010. -
Animated Mean Center of Population for the United States: 1790 to 2010
Animated map illustrating the movement of the mean center of population for the United States from 1790 to 2010. -
Median Center of Population for the United States: 1880 to 2010 [PDF]
Map illustrating the median center of population for the United States from 1880 to 2010.
Related Documentation
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Centers of Population Computation Documentation [PDF]
Methodology used by the U.S. Census Bureau for the computation of the centers of population from 1950 to 2010. -
Facts for Features
A special edition about the 2010 Centers of Population. -
Mean Center of Population Relative Shift by Decade: 1790 to 2010 [PPT] [PDF]
This series of plots provides a way to view the variations in movement and distance from one mean center of population to another. In these slides, the compass on the right marks the starting decade for each pair of centers. The second decade's center is plotted in relation to the compass point, with the length and angle of the line indicating the relative distance and directionality of movement. The final slide highlights the decade with the greatest distance of movement (1860), shortest distance (1920), most northerly direction (1870), and most southerly (2010).
Data Files
Mean Center of Population for the United States: 2010
Download the Mean Center of Population for the United States: 2010
Text file containing population and latitude and longitude coordinates for the mean center of population for the United States for the 2010 Census.
Median Center of Population for the United States: 2010
Download the Median Center of Population for the United States: 2010
Text file containing population and latitude and longitude coordinates for the median center of population for the United States for the 2010 Census.
Centers of Population by State: 2010
Download the Centers of Population by State: 2010
Text file containing population and mean centers of population by state/state equivalent entity for the 2010 Census. The record layout is:
- STATEFP: 2-character state FIPS code
- STNAME: state name
- POPULATION: 2010 Census population tabulated for the state
- LATITUDE: latitude coordinate for the center of population for the state
- LONGITUDE: longitude coordinate for the center of population for the state
Centers of Population by County: 2010
State/state equivalent entity-based text files containing the mean centers of population for each county/county equivalent entity within a state/state equivalent entity for the 2010 Census. The record layout is:
- STATEFP: 2-character state FIPS code
- COUNTYFP: 3-character county FIPS code
- COUNAME: county name
- STNAME: state name
- POPULATION: 2010 Census population tabulated for the state
- LATITUDE: latitude coordinate for the center of population for the state
- LONGITUDE: longitude coordinate for the center of population for the state
Centers of Population by Census Tract: 2010
State/state equivalent entity-based text files containing the mean centers of population for each census tract within a state/state equivalent entity for the 2010 Census. The record layout is:
- STATEFP: 2-character state FIPS code
- COUNTYFP: 3-character county FIPS code
- TRACTCE: 6-character census tract code
- POPULATION: 2010 Census population tabulated for the state
- LATITUDE: latitude coordinate for the center of population for the state
- LONGITUDE: longitude coordinate for the center of population for the state
Centers of Population by Block Group: 2010
State/state equivalent entity-based text files containing the mean centers of population for each census block group within a state/state equivalent entity for the 2010 Census. The record layout is:
- STATEFP: 2-character state FIPS code
- COUNTYFP: 3-character county FIPS code
- TRACTCE: 6-character census tract code
- BLKGRPCE: 1-character census block group code
- POPULATION: 2010 Census population tabulated for the state
- LATITUDE: latitude coordinate for the center of population for the state
- LONGITUDE: longitude coordinate for the center of population for the state
Centers of Population from Previous Censuses
- Centers of Population for Census 2000
- National Centers of Population for the 1790 - 2010 Censuses
- Historical State Centers of Population for All States for the 1880 - 2010 Censuses [TXT]
- Historical State Centers of Population by Year for the 1880 - 2010 Censuses
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Historical State Centers of Population by State for the 1880 - 2010 Censuses
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