Centers of Population

https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/centers-population.html

by geox • 5 years ago

65 43 5 years ago

That's kind of interesting, I think it might be more interesting if they didn't include Alaska and Hawaii and tracked those separately.

readthenotes1• 5 years ago

Or if they also added all the territories and extreme rendition sites!

et2o4• 5 years ago

I thought they would already be marked on Google Maps, but they are not. It doesn't seem possible to add them even as a Tourist destination either. Interesting.

zamadatix3• 5 years ago

I'm able to suggest adding them after entering a name, setting a category (e.g. Tourist Attraction), and clicking "update location on map" and not actually moving it (e.g. reset).

et2o4• 5 years ago

Interestingly enough, the mean center of population for NY State is only about 9 miles from the NJ border. Given NYC's location, not suprising. I wonder if there are any states with centers of population closer to the border than that. Given NY's geometry, if NYC continues to grow relative to upstate, I could imagine the center of population of the state actually being outside of NY State boundaries.

It's also possible in the past the NJ's state center of population might have been in NY - if Newark and Northern NJ were more relatively populous, I think that the mean center of population might be in Staten Island or the NY-NJ harbor.

et2o4• 5 years ago

After a brief search, Hawaii's is in the ocean between O'ahu and Moloka'i. DC's might be the closest to the state border (about 3.1 miles) but still just about directly in the center of the DC polygon.

madcaptenor3• 5 years ago

Still feels like that's in Hawaii, though.

zamadatix3• 5 years ago

Rhode Island's is < 6.5 miles. Feels a bit like cheating though haha.

madcaptenor3• 5 years ago

For Delaware, I eyeball the distance from the center of population to the nearest border (again NJ) at maybe three miles. But Delaware's so small that I feel like that doesn't count; something like (distance to border)/(square root of state area) might be worth looking at.

et2o4• 5 years ago

Definitely-would want to normalize distance by total state size, your formula works. I'm pretty sure NY would be the winner here, although Alaska might also be close by this metric.

zamadatix3• 5 years ago

Google Map's measurement tool is giving me a hair under 5 miles which beats out Rhode Island.

zie2• 5 years ago

I would randomly guess Portland, it's literally up against the WA border on the north, and most of the state lives in/around Portland.

xyhopguy2• 5 years ago

For oregon the population center is almost exactly Detroit. There is a large population in the willamette valley south of portland (and bend is captured by this too).

Cupertino95014• 5 years ago

A fun project for your student(s):

Do an animated video of a US map, where the mean center of population for each state moves around every 10 years.

jrmg• 5 years ago

Interesting to me that the US cente roof population is still moving west. Even between 2010 and 2020 there’s a notable shift.

paganel• 5 years ago

The moving South part is also interesting.

mlindner• 5 years ago

Retirees moving from the midwest to warmer climates also.

q1w22• 5 years ago

Texas is still west of the current center and there has been huge migration to Texas.

biesnecker• 5 years ago

Anecdotally a lot of that is coming from California, though, which would have no net effect on the median line, right?

erwincoumans• 5 years ago

Just curious, what is the purpose of having the center of population?

v8xi2• 5 years ago

If we align it perfectly with the center of mass of the continent, maybe it will prevent sea level rise?

rossdavidh2• 5 years ago

It's relatively easy to calculate, and does show in a simple map something about the very complex internal immigration history of our country. But, if it were really hard to determine, it is not soooo important that we would be likely to bother.

orange_joe• 5 years ago

If you wanted to place a shipping facility that could provide the fastest delivery to the most people in a given state, you could try putting it at the population center.

Kon-Peki• 5 years ago

It is interesting that two smallest shifts in mean center of population are 2010-2020 and 1910-1920.

The largest shift appears to be 1850-1860 - perhaps due to the California Gold Rush?

rindalir• 5 years ago

This is a major bummer for me. I live mere feet from the previous center of population for my state, and now it has moved nearly a mile away :(.

PaulDavisThe1st• 5 years ago

How much would each (national, state) CoP move if it took actual people's weight into account?

v8xi2• 5 years ago

for those interested: the mean center of population for the US is a county road somewhere between Springfield and St. Louis, Missouri. https://goo.gl/maps/nSt8tZKGvhcsXqieA

squidbot• 5 years ago

And the median is a Toyota plant in Indiana! https://goo.gl/maps/gG9KGVpJ3rovVRyH6

Steltek• 5 years ago

For a related nerdy science joke, there's also Massachusetts' geographic center or in other words, the "Center of Mass".

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/570

beefman• 5 years ago

Why is the "geographic center of area" so far North?

https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2020/geo/geogr...

maxnoe• 5 years ago

Alaska?

LargoLasskhyfv• 5 years ago

Because of the agglomeration of the United Frackers of the Bakken.

IAmGraydon2• 5 years ago

You’ll find something very interesting about the mean center of population in the US (Texas County, MO). It’s the point from which the Delta wave of the pandemic emanated.

https://covidestim.org/

IAmGraydon2• 5 years ago

BTW, I should have added “in the US”. Did not mean to imply that the spread of Delta worldwide started there.

caditinpiscinam• 5 years ago

Is there a country who's center of population falls within another country?

currycurry16• 5 years ago

I found Vietnam to be that case. https://vividmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Center-popu...

Centers of Population

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