Glossary

Census Region

Census Region:  Any of four geographic areas of the United States as defined by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. The Regions, each consisting of various States selected according to population size and physical location, are defined as follows:

• Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
• South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
• Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
• West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Note: Each region comprises two or three sub-areas called Census divisions. For the relationship between Regions and divisions, see Census Region/division.

Census Region/division:  An hierarchical organization of the United States according to geographic areas and sub-areas as follows:

Northeast Region: New England division and Middle Atlantic division
South Region: South Atlantic division, East South Central division and West South Central division
Midwest Region: East North Central division and West North Central division
West Region: Mountain division and Pacific division

Note: In some cases, the Pacific division is subdivided into the Pacific Contiguous area (California, Oregon, and Washington) and the Pacific Noncontiguous area (Alaska and Hawaii).