The table below shows the mean centers of population of the United States from the first Census of Population in 1790 to 2020. For ease of use in computer systems, the latitude and longitude positions are given in decimal degree equivalents rather than traditional degrees/minutes/seconds.

To convert from decimal degrees to degrees/minutes/seconds, use the procedure in following example:

Say you wish to convert the 1990 latitude from 37.87222 to its degrees/minutes/seconds equivalent. First, set the degrees to be the part of the number left of the decimal, e.g., degrees = 37. Then remove the degrees from the decimal value and you are left with the minutes/seconds part. Multiply this remainder by 60 to get the minutes value, e.g., 0.87222 times 60 = 52.3332. Set the minutes to be the part of the number left of the decimal, e.g., minutes = 52. Then, taking the decimal value multiply it by 60 to get the seconds, e.g., 0.3332 * 60 = 19.99. Generally, this is rounded to the nearest whole number; in this case, 20. This is the seconds part.

Census Year	North Latitude	West Latitude	Approximate Location
United States
2020	37.415725	92.346525	Wright County, MO, 14.6 miles northeast of Hartville
2010	37.517534	92.173096	Texas County, MO, 2.7 miles northeast of Plato
2000	37.69699	91.80957	Phelps County, MO, 2.8 miles east of Edgar Springs
1990	37.87222	91.21528	Crawford County, MO, 9.7 miles southeast of Steelville
1980	38.13694	90.57389	Jefferson County, MO, 1/4 mile west of DeSoto
1970	38.46306	89.70611	St. Clair County, IL, 5 miles east-southeast of Mascoutah
1960	38.59944	89.20972	Clinton County, IL, 6 1/2 miles northwest of Centralia
1950	38.80417	88.36889	Clay County, IL, 3 miles northeast of Louisville
Coterminous United States¹
1950	38.83917	88.15917	Richland County, IL, 8 miles north-northwest of Olney
1940	38.94833	87.37639	Sullivan County, IN, 2 mile southeast by east of Carlisle
1930	39.06250	87.13500	Greene County, IN, 3 miles northeast of Linton
1920	39.17250	86.72083	Owen County, IN, 8 miles south-southeast of Spencer
1910	39.17000	86.53889	Monroe County, IN, in the city of Bloomington
1900	39.16000	85.81500	Bartholomew County, IN, 6 miles southeast of Columbus
1890	39.19889	85.54806	Decatur County, IN, 20 miles east of Columbus
1880	39.06889	84.66111	Boone County, KY, 8 mile west by south of Cincinnati, OH
1870	39.20000	83.59500	Highland County, OH, 48 miles east by north of Cincinnati
1860	39.00667	82.81333	Pike County, OH, 20 miles south by east of Chillicothe
1850	38.98333	81.31667	Wirt County, WV, 23 miles southeast of Parkersburg²
1840	39.03333	80.30000	Upshur County, WV, 16 miles south of Clarksburg. Upshur County was formed from parts of Barbour, Lewis, and Randolph Counties in 1851².
1830	38.96500	79.28167	Grant County, WV, 19 miles west-southwest of Morefiled. Grant County was formed from part of Hardy County in 1866².
1820	39.09500	78.55000	Hardy County, WV, 16 mile east of Moorefield²
1810	39.19167	77.62000	Loudoun County, VA, 40 miles northwest by west of Washington, DC
1800	39.26833	76.94167	Howard County, MD, 18 miles west of Baltimore. Howard County was formed from part of Anne Arundel County in 1851.
1790	39.27500	76.18667	Kent County, MD, 23 miles east of Baltimore