Census.gov > Library > Infographics & Visualizations > 2012 > Gaining and Losing Shares
Library
Gaining and Losing Shares
Population Distribution by Region, 1790 to 2010
July 19, 2012The Northeast and South each held about half of the U.S. population in 1790. As the Midwest opened to settlement, it gained an increasingly large share of the population due to migration from the Northeast and South, as well as international migration. By 1890, the Midwest held its largest share of the population. The 20th century saw continued declines in the shares of the population living in the Northeast and Midwest alongside gains in the South and West.
See Census Regions and Divisions of the United States for a map of Census regions. Data for territories are included in the regional totals. Data do not include “Indians not taxed” prior to 1900.
Recent Data Visualizations
- Population Without Health Insurance
- Population Bracketology
- Measuring Race and Ethnicity Across the Decades: 1790-2010
- Where do college graduates work?
- Story Maps Illustrate Population Change
- HIV/AIDS Impact in Africa
- Distribution of Hispanic or Latino Population by Specific Origin: 2010
- A Century of Population Change in the Age and Sex Composition of the Nation
- Shifting Occupational Shares
- Metro Area Density
- Work-Life Earnings
- Census Flows Mapper
- Migration Between Calif. & Other States
- U.S. Territory and Statehood Status
- Spoken Languages Other than English
- Center of Population, 1790-2010
- Population Change by Decade
- Without A High School Education
- A Decade of State Population Change
- State-to-State Migration for States of 8 Million or More
- Population Under 5 Years Old by Congressional District
- Components of Metro Area Change
- Blooming States
- Coastline County Population
- Coastline County Population
- I-90 Population Density Profile, 2010
- Second Cities: Keeping Pace with a Booming New York
- By the Grid: Population Shift to the West and South
- I-10 Population Density Profile, 2010
- Booming Cities Decade-to-Decade, 1830-2010
- I-5 Population Density Profile, 2010
- Islands of High Income
- The Great Migration, 1910 to 1970
- Following the Frontier Line, 1790 to 1890
- Changing Ranks of States by Congressional Representation
- Cartograms of State Populations in 1890, 1950, and 2010
- Before and After 1940: Change in Population Density
- From Physical to Political Geography
- Differential City Growth Patterns
- I-95 Population Density Profile
- Increasing Urbanization
- Gaining and Losing Shares
- Top 20 Cities