# 60% of the U.S. population lives within 700 miles of Columbus Ohio? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-of-the-u-s-population-lives-within-700-miles-of-columbus-ohio/663381 "2013-07-13T02:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-of-the-u-s-population-lives-within-700-miles-of-columbus-ohio/663381/21 "2013-07-13T23:29:10Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > That’s a 1,400 mile radius circle, which includes most of the east coast. Population is heavily skewed east in the US: Sorry, can’t resist: the radius is 700 miles, so that makes the _diameter_ 1400 miles. [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-of-the-u-s-population-lives-within-700-miles-of-columbus-ohio/663381/22 "2013-07-14T01:22:09Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Sorry, can’t resist: the radius is 700 miles, so that makes the _diameter_ 1400 miles. > [/nitpick] I believe my 5th grade math teacher would agree with you, although not about it being a nitpick. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-of-the-u-s-population-lives-within-700-miles-of-columbus-ohio/663381/23 "2013-07-14T01:55:26Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Drawing 700 miles around Cincinnati gives a bit more of N. FL, but you lose the Boston area. Northwest Florida is pretty sparsely populated. Keep Boston. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-of-the-u-s-population-lives-within-700-miles-of-columbus-ohio/663381/24 "2013-07-14T01:59:39Z")
Is Cleveland in there? Thank God. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-of-the-u-s-population-lives-within-700-miles-of-columbus-ohio/663381/25 "2013-07-14T04:51:00Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Not sure why that’s so astounding. That’s a 1,400 mile radius circle, which includes most of the east coast. Population is heavily skewed east in the US: > > [http://www.mapofusa.net/us-population-density-map.htm](http://www.mapofusa.net/us-population-density-map.htm) > > Perhaps more interesting is that (and I’m guessing), I’d bet it includes more than half the population of Canada, too. 700 miles (direct, not driving distance) from Columbus includes the great majority of the population of Ontario and quite a bit more than than half the population of Quebec, which should get you over half the country. Canada’s population is very unevenly distributed. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-of-the-u-s-population-lives-within-700-miles-of-columbus-ohio/663381/26 "2013-07-14T10:46:01Z")
It’s possible that this is a fact that is no longer true, but once was. With the continual shift in the population to the south and west, it will eventually become not true, if it hasn’t already. Perhaps that happened with the last census. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-of-the-u-s-population-lives-within-700-miles-of-columbus-ohio/663381/27 "2013-07-15T19:04:43Z")
Less amazing fact: If you drew a 700 mile circle around Columbus, Ohio, people would wonder what the hell you were doing. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-of-the-u-s-population-lives-within-700-miles-of-columbus-ohio/663381/28 "2013-07-15T19:07:15Z")
Board needs “like” button. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-of-the-u-s-population-lives-within-700-miles-of-columbus-ohio/663381/29 "2013-07-15T19:10:58Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > Less amazing fact: If you drew a 700 mile circle around Columbus, Ohio, people would wonder what the hell you were doing. That’s something my old hometown has been promoting for decades, right up there with it being a wonderful test market because it’s so average and so isolated. The 700-mile distance equates to about 1 day by truck, so the point is that Columbus is a great location for transportation-dependent businesses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-of-the-u-s-population-lives-within-700-miles-of-columbus-ohio/663381.md?page=1)