The chart above shows the population density of US regions. The Northeast is clearly the most densely populated region and is so much so that it is over twice as densely populated as the next most densely populated region.
Findings
- The difference between the most densely populated region, the Northeast, and the least, the West, is 278 people per square mile.
- The Northeast is eight times more densely populated than the West.
- The Northeast is 2.67 times more densely populated than the South which is 1.45 times more densely populated than the Midwest which is 2.12 times more densely populated than the West.
- The Northeast has a greater population density than the sum of the other three regions combined.
Caveats
- Area data is from 2010.
- Population data is from 2010.
- The area includes both land and water area.
- Population and area data are from different sources.
- The Northeastern US consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
- The Southern US consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
- The Midwestern US consists of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
- The Western US consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
Details
The population density figures in these charts are more a reflection of the vast scale of area that the Western US encompasses than the actual number of people that live there. The Western US is a huge region, and coupled with the fact that the Northeast is a relatively small region which also happens to have a lot of people living in it, we get this giant disparity in population density.
The US's population density is 81 persons per square mile. Only the Western US is less densely populated than the nation as a whole.
Sources
United States Census Bureau. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016." Accessed December 12, 2017. http://factfinder2.census.gov.
United States Census Bureau. September 2012. "United States Summary: 2010: Population and Housing Unit Counts." Accessed January 23, 2018. https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-1.pdf.