The chart above shows the regional populations of the United States. As the US is a democracy, this shows where electoral power resides in the Union.
Findings
- The South makes up just over one-third (34.81%) of the US population.
- The West makes up almost one-fourth (23.24%) of the total population.
- The Northeast (20.11%) and the Midwest (21.74%) each make up just over one-fifth of the country's population.
- No one region has a majority of the population.
Caveats
- The data is from 2010.
- This data does not represent voting age population, however, the age cohorts are pretty similar throughout the US.
- The South consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
- The West consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
- The Midwest consists of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
- The Northeast consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Details
Assuming that age is distributed equally throughout the four regions of the US, the South has enough power in swaying the political landscape of the US but not enough to shape it.
At first glance, it seems like the electoral college actually aides in curbing Southern influence as large states like Texas and Florida yield electors and representatives to small states (in terms of population) like Wyoming and Texas.
Sources
United States Census Bureau. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016." Accessed December 12, 2017. http://factfinder2.census.gov.