West North Central states

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West North Central Region
US map-W North Central.PNG
Composition
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Minnesota
  • Missouri
  • Nebraska
  • North Dakota
  • South Dakota
Metropolitan areas
Largest cityMinneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Area
 • Total507,913 sq mi (1,315,490 km2)
Population
 (2020 Census)
 • Total21,616,921
 • Density43/sq mi (16/km2)

The West North Central states form one of the nine geographic subdivisions within the United States that are officially recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Seven states compose the division: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota and it makes up the western half of the United States Census Bureau's larger region of the Midwest, the eastern half of which consists of the East North Central states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.[1] The Mississippi River marks the bulk of the boundary between these two divisions.

The West North Central states are regarded as constituting the core of the nation's "Farm Belt." Another name popularly applied to the division is the "Agricultural Heartland," or simply the "Heartland."

Since the early 1990s, the West North Central division has consistently had the lowest unemployment rate in the United States (especially in its many college towns), and has also been noted for its plentiful supply of affordable housing.

As of 2020, the West North Central states had a combined population of 21,616,921. This number is a 5.4% increase from 20,505,437 in 2010. The West North Central region covers 507,913 square miles (1,315,489 km2) of land, and has an average population density of 42.56 people per square mile.

States in the West North Central Region
State 2020 Census Land area
Iowa 3,190,369 56,272
Kansas 2,937,880 82,277
Minnesota 5,706,494 86,939
Missouri 6,154,913 69,709
Nebraska 1,961,504 77,354
North Dakota 779,094 70,700
South Dakota 886,667 77,116
Top Ten Largest Cities by Population in the West North Central Region
City 2020 Pop.
1 Kansas City, Missouri 508,090
2 Omaha, Nebraska 484,983
3 Minneapolis, Minnesota 434,341
4 Wichita, Kansas 390,780
5 St. Louis, Missouri 318,416
6 St. Paul, Minnesota 310,468
7 St. Louis, Missouri 292,601
8 Lincoln, Nebraska 292,201
9 Des Moines, Iowa 215,293
10 Overland Park, Kansas 197,783
Largest Metropolitan Areas   (2020)
1 Twin Cities (MN-WI) 3,685,561
2 St. Louis, MO-IL 2,806,100
3 Kansas City, Missouri-KS 2,172,902
4 Omaha, Nebraska-IA 963,221
5 Des Moines, Iowa 721,326
6 Wichita, Kansas 649,230
7 Springfield, Missouri 473,702
8 Quad Cities IA-IL (Davenport) 376,502
9 Lincoln, Nebraska 340,954
10 Duluth, MN-WI 287,430

Politics[]

Parties
Democratic-Republican Democratic Republican Liberal Republican Populist Progressive
  • Bold denotes election winner.
Presidential electoral votes in the West North Central states since 1824
Year Iowa Kansas Minnesota Missouri Nebraska North Dakota South Dakota
1824 No election No election No election Clay No election No election No election
1828 No election No election No election Jackson No election No election No election
1832 No election No election No election Jackson No election No election No election
1836 No election No election No election Van Buren No election No election No election
1840 No election No election No election Van Buren No election No election No election
1844 No election No election No election Polk No election No election No election
1848 Cass No election No election Cass No election No election No election
1852 Pierce No election No election Pierce No election No election No election
1856 Frémont No election No election Buchanan No election No election No election
1860 Lincoln No election Lincoln Douglas No election No election No election
1864 Lincoln Lincoln Lincoln Lincoln No election No election No election
1868 Grant Grant Grant Grant Grant No election No election
1872 Grant Grant Grant Brown Grant No election No election
1876 Hayes Hayes Hayes Tilden Hayes No election No election
1880 Garfield Garfield Garfield Hancock Garfield No election No election
1884 Blaine Blaine Blaine Cleveland Blaine No election No election
1888 Harrison Harrison Harrison Cleveland Harrison No election No election
1892 Harrison Weaver Harrison Cleveland Harrison Weaver Harrison
1896 McKinley Bryan McKinley Bryan Bryan McKinley Bryan
1900 McKinley McKinley McKinley Bryan McKinley McKinley McKinley
1904 Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt
1908 Taft Taft Taft Taft Bryan Taft Taft
1912 Wilson Wilson Roosevelt Wilson Wilson Wilson Roosevelt
1916 Hughes Wilson Hughes Wilson Wilson Wilson Hughes
1920 Harding Harding Harding Harding Harding Harding Harding
1924 Coolidge Coolidge Coolidge Coolidge Coolidge Coolidge Coolidge
1928 Hoover Hoover Hoover Hoover Hoover Hoover Hoover
1932 Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt
1936 Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt
1940 Willkie Willkie Roosevelt Roosevelt Willkie Willkie Willkie
1944 Dewey Dewey Roosevelt Roosevelt Dewey Dewey Dewey
1948 Truman Dewey Truman Truman Dewey Dewey Dewey
1952 Eisenhower Eisenhower Eisenhower Eisenhower Eisenhower Eisenhower Eisenhower
1956 Eisenhower Eisenhower Eisenhower Stevenson Eisenhower Eisenhower Eisenhower
1960 Nixon Nixon Kennedy Kennedy Nixon Nixon Nixon
1964 Johnson Johnson Johnson Johnson Johnson Johnson Johnson
1968 Nixon Nixon Humphrey Nixon Nixon Nixon Nixon
1972 Nixon Nixon Nixon Nixon Nixon Nixon Nixon
1976 Ford Ford Carter Carter Ford Ford Ford
1980 Reagan Reagan Carter Reagan Reagan Reagan Reagan
1984 Reagan Reagan Mondale Reagan Reagan Reagan Reagan
1988 Dukakis Bush Dukakis Bush Bush Bush Bush
1992 Clinton Bush Clinton Clinton Bush Bush Bush
1996 Clinton Dole Clinton Clinton Dole Dole Dole
2000 Gore Bush Gore Bush Bush Bush Bush
2004 Bush Bush Kerry Bush Bush Bush Bush
2008 Obama McCain Obama McCain McCain[†] McCain McCain
2012 Obama Romney Obama Romney Romney Romney Romney
2016 Trump Trump Clinton Trump Trump Trump Trump
2020 Trump Trump Biden Trump Trump[†] Trump Trump
Year Iowa Kansas Minnesota Missouri Nebraska North Dakota South Dakota

See also[]

  • Great Plains

Notes[]

† McCain and Trump won the overall state, but Barack Obama won Nebraska's 2nd congressional district in the 2008 election, while Joe Biden won it in the 2020 election.

References[]

  1. ^ Statistical Abstract of the United States 1995 (PDF) (Report). U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1995. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
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