Geographic centers of the United States

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 44°58′N 103°46′W / 44.967°N 103.767°W, while that of the contiguous 48 is near Lebanon in Smith County, Kansas 39°50′N 98°35′W / 39.833°N 98.583°W. The geographic center of North America lies near Rugby, North Dakota 48°22′2″N 99°59′46″W / 48.36722°N 99.99611°W, 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	32°50′5″N 86°38′0″W / 32.83472°N 86.63333°W
Alaska	Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area (Unorganized Borough)	60 mi (97 km) northwest of Denali	64°43′54″N 152°28′12″W / 64.73167°N 152.47000°W
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	37°9′58″N 119°26′58″W / 37.16611°N 119.44944°W
Colorado	Park County	40 mi (64 km) west of Colorado Springs, southwest of Castle Rock	39°00′00″N 105°32′50″W / 39.00000°N 105.54722°W
Connecticut	Hartford County	in East Berlin
Delaware	Kent County	11 mi (18 km) southwest of Dover	38°58′48″N 75°30′42″W / 38.98000°N 75.51167°W
District of Columbia		Near 4th and L Streets, Northwest	38°54′15″N 77°00′58″W / 38.90417°N 77.01611°W
Florida	Hernando County	12 mi (19 km) north-northwest of Brooksville	28°40′53″N 82°27′36″W / 28.68139°N 82.46000°W
Georgia	Twiggs County	18 mi (29 km) southeast of Macon	32°39′43.6″N 83°26′17.9″W / 32.662111°N 83.438306°W
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	39°44′21.5″N 89°30′13.1″W / 39.739306°N 89.503639°W
Indiana	Hendricks County	2 mi (3.2 km) west of Avon	39°45′57.7″N 86°26′28.6″W / 39.766028°N 86.441278°W
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	42°22′37.62″N 71°55′30.93″W / 42.3771167°N 71.9252583°W
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	40°08′23.1″N 74°22′34.5″W / 40.139750°N 74.376250°W
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	41°40′18″N 71°34′36″W / 41.67167°N 71.57667°W
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	31°23′29.52″N 99°10′14.34″W / 31.3915333°N 99.1706500°W
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	44°26′16.00″N 90°07′48.67″W / 44.4377778°N 90.1301861°W
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	32°46′42″N 86°55′44″W / 32.7784°N 86.9290°W
Alaska	77.1 mi (124.1 km) northwest of Denali	64°03′40″N 152°13′51″W / 64.0610°N 152.2307°W
Arizona	49.7 mi (80.0 km) east-southeast of Prescott	34°16′26″N 111°39′30″W / 34.2740°N 111.6582°W
Arkansas	14.2 mi (22.9 km) northwest of Little Rock	34°53′38″N 92°26′34″W / 34.8938°N 92.4429°W
California	37.4 mi (60.2 km) northeast of Madera,	37°11′57″N 119°27′02″W / 37.1992°N 119.4505°W
Colorado	29.1 mi (46.8 km) northwest of Pikes Peak,	38°59′52″N 105°32′58″W / 38.9979°N 105.5495°W
Connecticut	1.1 mi (1.8 km) east of East Berlin	41°37′19″N 72°43′38″W / 41.6220°N 72.7272°W
Delaware	11.7 mi (18.8 km) south of Dover	38°59′22″N 75°30′18″W / 38.9895°N 75.5051°W
District of Columbia	Near 3rd and P Streets, Northwest	38°54′36″N 77°00′53″W / 38.9101°N 77.0147°W
Florida	5.8 mi (9.3 km) northwest of Brooksville	28°37′42″N 82°26′33″W / 28.6282°N 82.4426°W
Georgia	17.7 mi (28.5 km) southeast of Macon	32°38′39″N 83°26′30″W / 32.64405°N 83.4418°W
Hawaii	27.7 mi (44.6 km) off-shore south of Wailea-Makena	20°17′42″N 156°22′19″W / 20.2951°N 156.3720°W
Idaho	21.4 mi (34.4 km) west-southwest of Challis	44°21′14″N 114°36′31″W / 44.3538°N 114.6086°W
Illinois	28.8 mi (46.3 km) northeast of Springfield	40°02′28″N 89°11′47″W / 40.0411°N 89.1965°W
Indiana	10.8 mi (17.4 km) northwest of Indianapolis	39°53′38″N 86°16′54″W / 39.8938°N 86.2818°W
Iowa	7 mi (11 km) northeast of Ames	42°04′31″N 93°29′45″W / 42.0753°N 93.4959°W
Kansas	22.6 mi (36.4 km) northeast of Great Bend	38°29′42″N 98°22′48″W / 38.4949°N 98.3801°W
Kentucky	3.4 mi (5.5 km) southwest of Lebanon	37°32′10″N 85°18′08″W / 37.5360°N 85.3021°W
Louisiana	5.8 mi (9.3 km) southeast of Marksville	31°04′08″N 91°59′43″W / 31.0689°N 91.9952°W
Maine	12.6 mi (20.3 km) northwest of Dover-Foxcroft	45°22′13″N 69°14′38″W / 45.3702°N 69.2438°W
Maryland	12.6 mi (20.3 km) northwest of Davidsonville	39°03′18″N 76°47′27″W / 39.0550°N 76.7909°W
Massachusetts	Irving St. and Wellington St., Worcester	42°15′35″N 71°48′30″W / 42.2596°N 71.8083°W
Michigan	7.7 mi (12.4 km) west of Cadillac	44°20′46″N 85°24′41″W / 44.3461°N 85.4114°W
Minnesota	10 mi (16 km) southwest of Brainerd	46°16′52″N 94°18′17″W / 46.2810°N 94.3046°W
Mississippi	9 mi (14 km) west-northwest of Carthage	32°44′06″N 89°40′05″W / 32.7351°N 89.6680°W
Missouri	21 mi (34 km) southwest of Jefferson City	38°21′24″N 92°27′26″W / 38.3568°N 92.4571°W
Montana	10.1 mi (16.3 km) west of Lewistown	47°03′10″N 109°38′42″W / 47.0527°N 109.6450°W
Nebraska	12.4 mi (20.0 km) northwest of Broken Bow	41°32′21″N 99°47′48″W / 41.5392°N 99.7968°W
Nevada	26 mi (42 km) southeast of Austin	39°19′50″N 116°37′36″W / 39.3306°N 116.6268°W
New Hampshire	2.6 mi (4.2 km) east of Ashland	43°40′50″N 71°34′54″W / 43.6805°N 71.5818°W
New Jersey	4.3 mi (6.9 km) southeast of Trenton	40°11′27″N 74°40′24″W / 40.1907°N 74.6733°W
New Mexico	13.8 mi (22.2 km) south-southwest of Willard	34°24′24″N 106°06′46″W / 34.4066°N 106.1128°W
New York	11.5 mi (18.5 km) south-southeast of Oneida	42°57′15″N 75°31′34″W / 42.9543°N 75.5262°W
North Carolina	12.7 mi (20.4 km) northwest of Sanford	35°33′28″N 79°23′08″W / 35.5579°N 79.3856°W
North Dakota	2.7 mi (4.3 km) southwest of McClusky	47°27′00″N 100°28′03″W / 47.4499°N 100.4674°W
Ohio	24.9 mi (40.1 km) north-northeast of Columbus	40°17′11″N 82°47′38″W / 40.2863°N 82.7938°W
Oklahoma	4.4 mi (7.1 km) south of Edmond	35°35′28″N 97°29′39″W / 35.5910°N 97.4943°W
Oregon	29.1 mi (46.8 km) southeast of Prineville	43°56′01″N 120°33′42″W / 43.9336°N 120.5617°W
Pennsylvania	2.6 mi (4.2 km) southwest of Bellefonte, in State College	40°52′43″N 77°47′55″W / 40.8786°N 77.7985°W
Rhode Island	2.4-mile (3.9 km) west of Crompton	41°40′34″N 71°33′22″W / 41.6762°N 71.5562°W
South Carolina	9.7 mi (15.6 km) southeast of Columbia	33°55′01″N 80°53′45″W / 33.9169°N 80.8957°W
South Dakota	7.9 mi (12.7 km) northeast of Pierre	44°26′41″N 100°13′42″W / 44.4446°N 100.2282°W
Tennessee	2.5 mi (4.0 km) northeast of Murfreesboro	35°51′38″N 86°21′01″W / 35.8605°N 86.3504°W
Texas	23.7 mi (38.1 km) north of Brady	31°28′44″N 99°19′43″W / 31.4789°N 99.3287°W
Utah	3.1 mi (5.0 km) northwest of Manti	39°18′21″N 111°40′07″W / 39.3057°N 111.6685°W
Vermont	3.7 mi (6.0 km) southeast of Roxbury	44°04′08″N 72°39′59″W / 44.0688°N 72.6663°W
Virginia	16.6 mi (26.7 km) west of Buckingham	37°31′22″N 78°51′11″W / 37.5229°N 78.8531°W
Washington	7 mi (11 km) west-southwest of Wenatchee	47°22′56″N 120°27′02″W / 47.3822°N 120.4505°W
West Virginia	4.9 mi (7.9 km) east-southeast of Sutton	38°38′27″N 80°37′23″W / 38.6409°N 80.6230°W
Wisconsin	9.3 mi (15.0 km) east-southeast of Marshfield	44°37′27″N 89°59′39″W / 44.6243°N 89.9941°W
Wyoming	60.6 mi (97.5 km) east-northeast of Lander	42°59′45″N 107°33′10″W / 42.9959°N 107.5527°W

See also

• Centroid
• Geographical centre
• List of extreme points of the United States
• List of extreme points of U.S. states
• List of U.S. states by elevation
• Mean center of the United States population
• Geographic center of the United States
• Geographic center of the contiguous United States

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

References

• U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Geographic Center of the United States" (PDF). ngs.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
• "States and Capitals". 50states.com. 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
• "Geography of the 50 States". Netstate.com. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-22.