Monday, May 9, 2011

Texas County, Missouri, is now the center of the U.S. population

Posted by Peter Rugg on Mon, May 9, 2011 at 4:13 PM

click to enlarge Behold the center of our world.
  • Behold the center of our world.

Nice job, Texas County, Missouri! According to the U.S. Census Bureau's latest calculations, you guys are the center of the country's population. Gargle those balls, 2000 center Phelps County!

That isn't to say that the country has somehow shifted to make Texas County America's geographical center, only that it's the place that "an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the United States would perfectly balance if all its residents were of identical weight." So, yeah, this has absolutely no practical application. Unless you're a physicist or something like that. Are there any physicists reading this who would like to weigh in? If everyone in Texas County jumped at the same time, could the shock of their feet hitting the ground cause another tsunami in Asia? 



Geological weapon applications aside, the center's southern migration is attributed to population growth in the Southeast as well as Texas. Back in 1790 when they first started measuring this stat, the center was in Kent County, Maryland, and it has been moving steadily toward the Southwest ever since.

And now I've learned something today, and you've learned something today. And we can be friends.


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