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US regions explained: Northeast, South, Midwest, West

The official 4-region, 9-division map from the US Census Bureau, with every state assigned and the unofficial regions like New England and the Sun Belt sorted out.

The United States has 50 states, and the federal government groups them into 4 regions and 9 statistical divisions. That framework, set by the Census Bureau, is what economists, demographers and reporters use when they say "the Midwest grew faster than the Northeast." Below is the full list, state by state, plus the unofficial regions like New England, the Sun Belt and Appalachia that overlap the census map.

The 4 census regions at a glance

The Census Bureau split the country into 4 regions in 1910 and has kept the boundaries largely stable ever since. Each region contains 2 or 3 numbered divisions. Here are the four, with state counts and approximate 2020 population.

RegionStatesPopulation (2020)Divisions
Northeast957.6 millionNew England, Middle Atlantic
Midwest1268.9 millionEast North Central, West North Central
South16 plus DC126.3 millionSouth Atlantic, East South Central, West South Central
West1378.6 millionMountain, Pacific

The South is the largest by both people and land area, and it grew fastest between 2010 and 2020 thanks to Florida, Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. The Northeast is the smallest and the only region that lost congressional seats after the last census.

Northeast: 9 states, 2 divisions

The Northeast is the smallest region by area, roughly 181,000 square miles, but it holds three of the ten most populous metros in the country: New York, Philadelphia and Boston. It is split into New England (6 states carved from the original Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies) and the Middle Atlantic (3 states that anchor the Boston-Washington corridor).

New England (6 states)

Middle Atlantic (3 states)

Every Northeast state except Maine and Vermont was one of the original 13 colonies. The whole region uses Eastern Time, and 5 of the 9 states have no state income tax reciprocity headaches because they all sit inside a single commuter zone.

Midwest: 12 states, 2 divisions

The Midwest was called the "North Central" region until 1984, when the Census Bureau formally renamed it. It stretches from the Ohio River to the Rockies and holds the country's corn and soybean belt, its Great Lakes shipping lanes and most of what people mean by the Rust Belt.

East North Central (5 states)

West North Central (7 states)

All 7 West North Central states were carved out of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Missouri is the only Midwest state that borders the South (it touches Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee), which is why local weather maps and college football conferences sometimes place it elsewhere.

South: 16 states plus DC, 3 divisions

The South is by far the largest region. It runs from Delaware to Texas, includes all 11 former Confederate states, and covers 3 census divisions.

South Atlantic (8 states plus DC)

East South Central (4 states)

West South Central (4 states)

Delaware and Maryland are often assumed to be in the Northeast because they sit on the I-95 corridor, but the Census Bureau counts both as South Atlantic. Texas is the population heavyweight, holding about 30 million people, nearly a quarter of the region's total.

West: 13 states, 2 divisions

The West is the largest region by area, covering roughly 1.87 million square miles, more than half the country. It splits into an interior Mountain division and a coastal Pacific division.

Mountain (8 states)

Pacific (5 states)

The Pacific division is the only one that spans four time zones (Pacific for the lower 48 coast, Alaska Time, Aleutian Time for the far western Aleutians, and Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time). California alone has about 39 million people, more than the entire Mountain division combined.

Unofficial regions that overlap the census map

Most Americans use everyday regional names that do not appear on any federal map. Here is how the popular labels line up:

Learn the regions by playing

Statedoku uses region tags as puzzle constraints: "Northeast", "Mountain West", "New England". Play the daily puzzle and the map fixes itself in your head.

Play today's puzzle →

Related guides

→ The 4 US regions → All 50 state capitals → All 50 state nicknames → State abbreviations → Statehood order → The 13 original colonies → All 50 state mottos → How to learn the 50 states