The mean center of U.S. population is determined by the United States Census Bureau after tabulating the results of each census. The Bureau defines it to be:
"the point at which an imaginary, flat, weightless, and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if weights of identical value were placed on it so that each weight represented the location of one person on the date of the census."
During the 20th century, the mean center of population has shifted 324 miles (521 km) west and 101 miles (163 km) south. The southerly movement was much stronger during the second half of the century; 79 miles (127 km) of the 101 miles (163 km) happened between 1950 and 2000.
The following counties included the mean center of U.S. population since 1790:
* 1790: Kent County, Maryland
* 1800: Howard County, Maryland
* 1810: Loudoun County, Virginia
* 1820: Hardy County, Virginia (now in W. Virginia)
* 1830: Grant County, Virginia (now in W. Virginia)
* 1840: Upshur County, Virginia (now in W. Virginia)
* 1850: Wirt County, Virginia (now in W. Virginia)
* 1860: Pike County, Ohio
* 1870: Highland County, Ohio
* 1880: Boone County, Kentucky
* 1890: Decatur County, Indiana
* 1900: Bartholomew County, Indiana
* 1910: Monroe County, Indiana
* 1920: Owen County, Indiana
* 1930: Greene County, Indiana
* 1940: Sullivan County, Indiana
* 1950: Clay County, Illinois
* 1960: Clinton County, Illinois
* 1970: St. Clair County, Illinois
* 1980: Jefferson County, Missouri
* 1990: Crawford County, Missouri
* 2000: Phelps County, Missouri
Although the mean population centers between 1820 and 1860 were located in what is present day West Virginia, at the time they were located in Virginia (with West Virginia not having split from Virginia until 1862).
Recently, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity in Massachusetts declared that the world's Christian Center of Gravity was located in Timbuktu, Mali. According to their definition of Center of Gravity, half of all Christians live west of Timbuktu and half live south of Timbuktu. Presumably they had chosen the International Date Line to differentiate eastern from western people.
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