Geographic centers of the United States

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This is a list of geographic centers of each U.S. state. Note that the geographic center of the entire U.S. is northeast of Belle Fourche in Butte County, South Dakota Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found., while that of the contiguous 48 is near Lebanon in Smith County, Kansas Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. The geographic center of North America lies near Rugby, North Dakota Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found., though this designation has no official status.

Centers of the states and Washington, DC

Geographic centers of the states of the United States and Washington, DC.
State County Location Coordinates
Alabama Chilton County 12 mi (19 km) south-west of Clanton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Alaska Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area
(Unorganized Borough)
60 mi (97 km) northwest of Denali Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Arizona Yavapai County 55 mi (89 km) east-southeast of Prescott
Arkansas Pulaski County 12 mi (19 km) northwest of Little Rock
California Madera County 38 mi (61 km) east of Madera, near North Fork, northwest of Fresno Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Colorado Park County 40 mi (64 km) west of Colorado Springs, southwest of Castle Rock Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Connecticut Hartford County in East Berlin
Delaware Kent County 11 mi (18 km) southwest of Dover Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
District of Columbia Near 4th and L Streets, Northwest Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Florida Hernando County 12 mi (19 km) north-northwest of Brooksville Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Georgia Twiggs County 18 mi (29 km) southeast of Macon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Hawaii Maui County off-shore southwest of Molokai and west of Lanai
Idaho Custer County on the Yankee Fork River, southwest of Challis
Illinois Sangamon County 1.5 mi (2.4 km) southeast of Rochester Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Indiana Hendricks County 2 mi (3.2 km) west of Avon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Iowa Story County 5 mi (8.0 km) northeast of Ames
Kansas Barton County 15 mi (24 km) northeast of Great Bend
Kentucky Marion County 3 mi (4.8 km) north-northwest of Lebanon
Louisiana Avoyelles Parish 3 mi (4.8 km) southeast of Marksville
Maine Piscataquis County 18 mi (29 km) north of Dover-Foxcroft
Maryland Prince George's County 4.5 mi (7.2 km) northwest of Davidsonville
Massachusetts Worcester County 12 mi (19 km) northwest of Worcester, in Rutland Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Michigan Wexford County 5 mi (8.0 km) north-northwest of Cadillac
Minnesota Crow Wing County 10 mi (16 km) southwest of Brainerd
Mississippi Leake County 9 mi (14 km) west-northwest of Carthage
Missouri Miller County 20 mi (32 km) southwest of Jefferson City
Montana Fergus County 11 mi (18 km) west of Lewistown
Nebraska Custer County 10 mi (16 km) northwest of Broken Bow
Nevada Lander County 26 mi (42 km) southeast of Austin
New Hampshire Belknap County 3 mi (4.8 km) east of Ashland
New Jersey Ocean County 5 mi (8.0 km) southeast of Trenton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
New Mexico Torrance County 12 mi (19 km) south-southwest of Willard
New York Madison County 26 mi (42 km) southwest of Utica, near Syracuse
North Carolina Chatham County 10 mi (16 km) northwest of Sanford
North Dakota Sheridan County 5 mi (8.0 km) southwest of McClusky
Ohio Delaware County 25 mi (40 km) north-northeast of Columbus
Oklahoma Oklahoma County 8 mi (13 km) north of Oklahoma City
Oregon Crook County 25 mi (40 km) south-southeast of Prineville
Pennsylvania Centre County 2.5 mi (4.0 km) southwest of Bellefonte, in State College
Rhode Island Kent County 1-mile (1.6 km) south-southwest of Crompton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
South Carolina Richland County 13 mi (21 km) southeast of Columbia
South Dakota Hughes County 8 mi (13 km) northeast of Pierre
Tennessee Rutherford County 5 mi (8.0 km) northeast of Murfreesboro
Texas McCulloch County 15 mi (24 km) northeast of Brady Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Utah Sanpete County 3 mi (4.8 km) north of Manti
Vermont Washington County 3 mi (4.8 km) east of Roxbury
Virginia Buckingham County 5 mi (8.0 km) southwest of Buckingham
Washington Chelan County 10 mi (16 km) west-southwest of Wenatchee
West Virginia Braxton County 4 mi (6.4 km) east of Sutton
Wisconsin Wood County 9 mi (14 km) southeast of Marshfield Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Wyoming Fremont County 58 mi (93 km) east-northeast of Lander

Updated list of geographic centers

The list above has been only slightly modified since it was first produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in the early 1920s.[1] At that time, the center for a state was found by suspending a cardboard cutout of the state by a string, and then drawing a vertical line from the suspension point. After rotating the cutout 90 degrees and drawing another vertical line from the new suspension point, the intersection of the two vertical lines was used as the geographic center.[2] The result is dependent upon the type of projection used. Although there have been different definitions offered for the geographic center, an intuitive one, and one used by the USGS, is "the center of gravity of the surface, or that point on which the surface of the area would balance if it were a plane of uniform thickness."[3] An updated list of geographic centers using this definition (which is equivalent to the state's centroid) is given below. It was derived by minimizing the sum of squared great circle distances from all points of land in a state (including islands, but not coastal waters, following the earlier practice of the USGS).[4]

The geographic center of the contiguous United States, determined in this way, is at (39.8355 N, 99.0909 W); this is 5.3 miles from Agra, Kansas, 5.5 miles from Kensington, Kansas, and 29.5 great circle miles west of the longstanding designated center of Lebanon, Kansas.

Updated geographic centers of the states of the United States and Washington, DC
State Location Coordinates
Alabama 12.1 mi (19.5 km) southwest of Clanton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Alaska 77.1 mi (124.1 km) northwest of Denali Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Arizona 49.7 mi (80.0 km) east-southeast of Prescott Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Arkansas 14.2 mi (22.9 km) northwest of Little Rock Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
California 37.4 mi (60.2 km) northeast of Madera, Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Colorado 29.1 mi (46.8 km) northwest of Pikes Peak, Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Connecticut 1.1 mi (1.8 km) east of East Berlin Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Delaware 11.7 mi (18.8 km) south of Dover Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
District of Columbia Near 3rd and P Streets, Northwest Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Florida 5.8 mi (9.3 km) northwest of Brooksville Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Georgia 17.7 mi (28.5 km) southeast of Macon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Hawaii 27.7 mi (44.6 km) off-shore south of Wailea-Makena Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Idaho 21.4 mi (34.4 km) west-southwest of Challis Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Illinois 28.8 mi (46.3 km) northeast of Springfield Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Indiana 10.8 mi (17.4 km) northwest of Indianapolis Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Iowa 7 mi (11 km) northeast of Ames Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Kansas 22.6 mi (36.4 km) northeast of Great Bend Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Kentucky 3.4 mi (5.5 km) southwest of Lebanon Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Louisiana 5.8 mi (9.3 km) southeast of Marksville Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Maine 12.6 mi (20.3 km) northwest of Dover-Foxcroft Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Maryland 12.6 mi (20.3 km) northwest of Davidsonville Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Massachusetts Irving St. and Wellington St., Worcester Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Michigan 7.7 mi (12.4 km) west of Cadillac Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Minnesota 10 mi (16 km) southwest of Brainerd Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Mississippi 9 mi (14 km) west-northwest of Carthage Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Missouri 21 mi (34 km) southwest of Jefferson City Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Montana 10.1 mi (16.3 km) west of Lewistown Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Nebraska 12.4 mi (20.0 km) northwest of Broken Bow Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Nevada 26 mi (42 km) southeast of Austin Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
New Hampshire 2.6 mi (4.2 km) east of Ashland Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
New Jersey 4.3 mi (6.9 km) southeast of Trenton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
New Mexico 13.8 mi (22.2 km) south-southwest of Willard Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
New York 11.5 mi (18.5 km) south-southeast of Oneida Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
North Carolina 12.7 mi (20.4 km) northwest of Sanford Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
North Dakota 2.7 mi (4.3 km) southwest of McClusky Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Ohio 24.9 mi (40.1 km) north-northeast of Columbus Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Oklahoma 4.4 mi (7.1 km) south of Edmond Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Oregon 29.1 mi (46.8 km) southeast of Prineville Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Pennsylvania 2.6 mi (4.2 km) southwest of Bellefonte, in State College Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Rhode Island 2.4-mile (3.9 km) west of Crompton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
South Carolina 9.7 mi (15.6 km) southeast of Columbia Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
South Dakota 7.9 mi (12.7 km) northeast of Pierre Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Tennessee 2.5 mi (4.0 km) northeast of Murfreesboro Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Texas 23.7 mi (38.1 km) north of Brady Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Utah 3.1 mi (5.0 km) northwest of Manti Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Vermont 3.7 mi (6.0 km) southeast of Roxbury Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Virginia 16.6 mi (26.7 km) west of Buckingham Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Washington 7 mi (11 km) west-southwest of Wenatchee Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
West Virginia 4.9 mi (7.9 km) east-southeast of Sutton Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Wisconsin 9.3 mi (15.0 km) east-southeast of Marshfield Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Wyoming 60.6 mi (97.5 km) east-northeast of Lander Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Google Maps default center

Coffeyville, Kansas, specifically a spot just north of Coffeyville Country Club, is the default center starting point of Google Maps, being the accidental center point of the default starting map being displayed, which shows the 48 contiguous United States.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. Douglas, E.M. 1923. Boundaries, Areas, Geographic Centers, and Altitudes of the United States and Several States. Bulletin 689. U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, DC.
  2. Adams, Oscar, S. 1932. Geographical Centers. The Military Engineer 24, 138: 586-587.
  3. Van Zandt, Franklin. 1966. Boundaries of the United States and the Several States. Bulletin 1212. U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, DC.
  4. Rogerson, P. 2015. A New Method for Finding Geographic Centers, with Application to the U.S. States. The Professional Geographer. Published online Aug 15, 2015; DOI:10.1080/00330124.2015.1062707 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00330124.2015.1062707#.Vd30QflVhBc Retrieved 2015-08-26
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

References

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