# Where is the (American) midwest? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080 "2010-07-18T01:45:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/1 "2010-07-18T01:45:33Z")
I met a bunch of people the other night, and a guy and I (who grew up in the same city) were told (by someone local) that we were from the midwest. We strongly disagreed. We sometimes TRAVELED to the midwest, from our eastern hometown. I’ve often heard of a particular state, which I consider to be firmly east, as the midwest. For that matter, where does the midwest turn into the west, and where does the midwest turn into the south? And why? Include in your answer where you grew up and where you live now. (My own opinion comes after the first few posts.) -tdn, born in the midwest, now in the east, grew up in ??? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/2 "2010-07-18T01:56:20Z")
I’m from South Carolina. The Midwest is where the states get straight edges. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/3 "2010-07-18T02:02:56Z")
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa are to my mind the canonical Midwestern states. Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio are Midwestern because what the hell else could they be? I suppose you could include the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas, but I usually think of those as Plains states and not part of the Midwest (which I usually conceive of as broadly liberal, labor-and-farmer-friendly, mainline Protestanty states). Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado are definitely not Midwestern states. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/4 "2010-07-18T02:19:02Z")
Ohio native here. The following is my opinion, which is as good as anyone else’s. The eastern boundary of the Midwest follows the Cuyahoga River south and proceeds thence to Akron, Mansfield, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati. It’s questionable whether Cincinnati is Midwestern, but it’s not really Southern either. Southeastern Ohio is most definitely Appalachia, not the Midwest. And Northeast Ohio east of the Cuyahoga, where I grew up, is a cross between Connecticut and New Jersey, not Midwestern at all. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/5 "2010-07-18T02:23:19Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > It’s questionable whether Cincinnati is Midwestern, but it’s not really Southern either. Southeastern Ohio is most definitely Appalachia, not the Midwest. And Northeast Ohio east of the Cuyahoga, where I grew up, is a cross between Connecticut and New Jersey, not Midwestern at all. Hahaha, the only people who think Cleveland is Eastern are Clevelanders. ---
**Author:** ![hougaswd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@hougaswd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hougaswd)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/6 "2010-07-18T02:26:02Z")
I consider the Midwest to be the states bordering on Lakes Michigan and Superior (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan), plus Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio. I’ve lived in Illinois and Wisconsin exclusively. Years ago, traveling in the Czech Republic, the only landmark in the Midwest that the average citizen knew was Chicago. Yes it’s like we’re from Chicago, but there are more cows. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/7 "2010-07-18T02:29:24Z")
Left to right, it goes Paradise, Plains states, Midwest, hillbillies, effete Easterners. The Plains start where the Rockies end. Midwest starts at the Mississippi and ends at the Appalachians. Everything else is Alaska, Hawai’i or The South. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/8 "2010-07-18T02:29:48Z")
[Midwest States](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States) [Great Plains States](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/convention96/regions/plains/) Notice that the Great Plains states are included in both. I was always taught to differentiate between the Midwest and The Great Plains. I think the fact that these two regions overlap and get get confused and lumped together adds to the confusion. To me, the heart of the Midwest are Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. It extends from there, but those states are iconic for me. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/9 "2010-07-18T02:52:27Z")
> [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](#): > > [Midwest States](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States) This. The distinction of “Plains States” is meaningless - there is really absolutely nothing that differentiates Kansas from Missouri from Illinois from Indiana. I was born in Nebraska, grew up in Kansas, went to school in Indiana and continue to live in Indiana. The character of the cities in these states is nearly identical. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/10 "2010-07-18T03:05:09Z")
I say the midwest is definately Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. This was considered “the west” at one time. Then the Louisian Purchase came about. That was the “real west” Then when Oregon Country was annexed it pushed the “west” of the USA all the way to the coast. I would add North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri in as well. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/11 "2010-07-18T03:17:31Z")
Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas. Why do I classify these states as Midwestern? Because anytime you see those maps that divide the states into West/Midwest/South/Northeast, these states are always included. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/12 "2010-07-18T03:35:21Z")
when i would put together a puzzle of the united states i always started with: north dakota south dakota nebraska kansas oklahoma texas those states were a straight up and down midline for the puzzle, i would then fill in the states to the west and then the ones to the east. i don’t consider oklahoma or texas to be midwest. dakotas, nebraska, and kansas def. mid west. along with ill., iowa, missouri, indiana, bits of ohio, and a tad of wyoming. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/13 "2010-07-18T05:17:06Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Hahaha, the only people who think Cleveland is Eastern are Clevelanders. No, only certain Eastsiders think it’s Eastern. Westsiders are much more accepting of Ohio’s place in the Midwest, and we include ALL of Ohio in that! ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/14 "2010-07-18T05:48:56Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > The distinction of “Plains States” is meaningless - there is really absolutely nothing that differentiates Kansas from Missouri from Illinois from Indiana. Other than the fact that Kansas has part of the Great Plains (and more than half of Kansas is plains) while Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana don’t? See [here](http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/outgeogr/map10.gif), [here](http://www.gpnps.org/great_plains_map_l.gif), and [here](http://library.ndsu.edu/exhibits/text/greatplains/fig03.jpg). I’ll agree that the “Great Plains States” as shown in **Runs With Scissors’s** link is meaningless – and stupid, as it includes some states that clearly don’t have the plains and excludes some states that clearly do. > [@](#): > > I was born in Nebraska, grew up in Kansas, went to school in Indiana and continue to live in Indiana. The character of the cities in these states is nearly identical. Huh? The character of the cities has what to do with the fact that Kansas and Nebraska have plains while Indiana doesn’t? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/15 "2010-07-18T08:03:03Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Hahaha, the only people who think Cleveland is Eastern are Clevelanders. No, I consider all of Ohio to be Midwest. I think this comes from having lived in NYC for 25 years . . . and considering the Midwest to be anything between the Hudson and the Rockies (like that famous \*New Yorker \*cover. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/16 "2010-07-18T11:24:52Z")
In my head, the ‘Midwest’ is anything north of the Ohio River, and east of the Mississippi River. The ‘West’ is anything west of the Mississippi, and east of (including the) Rocky Mountains (except Louisiana, which is part of the South, and Texas, which is probably best described as “\*”). The West Coast is just that - the West Coast. NOT the West. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/17 "2010-07-18T13:14:46Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Other than the fact that Kansas has part of the Great Plains (and more than half of Kansas is plains) while Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana don’t? See [here](http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/outgeogr/map10.gif), [here](http://www.gpnps.org/great_plains_map_l.gif), and [here](http://library.ndsu.edu/exhibits/text/greatplains/fig03.jpg). Correct. The population that lives in the Kansas plains areas is unbelievably miniscule that your point is meaningless. > [@](#): > > Huh? The character of the cities has what to do with the fact that Kansas and Nebraska have plains while Indiana doesn’t? Uh, yeah. When people refer to “the midwest” they’re referring more to the people living there than the actual place. The similarities between Kansas City, Omaha, Indianapolis and Columbus are not coincidental. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/18 "2010-07-18T22:07:36Z")
The real Midwest is north of the Ohio River/Ozark Mountains, and starts where the Applachians end, and ends where huge corn and soybean farms turn into huge wheat farms. In other words, roughly between Columbus, Ohio, and Kansas City, Kansas. If anyone wants to extend it to the Rockies, I won’t quibble. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/19 "2010-07-18T22:23:13Z")
I generally go with the region defined by the US Census Burough as: Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Michigan Minnesota Missouri Nebraska North Dakota Ohio South Dakota Wisconsin ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080/20 "2010-07-18T22:42:12Z")
Midwest goes from Pittsburgh in the east to St. Louis in the west; from the Canadian border down to the Ohio River. Thus Pittsburgh is a midwestern city (but not Philadelphia); St. Louis is Midwest but not Kansas City. Cincinatti but not Louisville. Some people consider Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa and the Dakotas part of the Midwest but they are wrong – those are the Plains. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-american-midwest/547080.md?page=2)