Census.gov > Library > Infographics & Visualizations > 2013 > Center of Population and Territorial Expansion, 1790-2010
Library
Center of Population and Territorial Expansion, 1790-2010
February 7, 2013
The mean center of population is the place where an imaginary, flat, weightless, and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if all residents were of equal weight. Historically, the movement of the center of population has reflected the expansion of the country, the settling of the frontier, waves of immigration and migration west and south. Since 1790, the center of population has moved steadily westward, angling to the southwest in recent decades.
SOURCE: Geography Division, "Centers of Population Computation for the United States 1950-2010," issued March 2011, available at www.census.gov/geo/www/2010census/centerpop2010/COP2010_documentation.pdf. Consulted for historical reference: Historical Atlas of the United States, National Geographic Society, 1988.
NOTE: The Proclamation Line of 1763 limited British settlement to areas east of the Appalachian Mountains. Alaska and Hawaii were not included in the calculation of the mean center of population until 1950. Puerto Rico was not included in any decade. For more information on the mean center of population, an animated map, and other resources, see www.census.gov/geo/www/2010census/centerpop2010/centerpop2010.html. This graphic is adapted from the "Census Atlas of the United States" published by the Census Bureau in 2007. More information about this publication is available at www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/censusatlas/.
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