West North Central states

West North Central
West North Central
	Top, left to right: Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Louis, and Kansas City
Composition	Iowa; Kansas; Minnesota; Missouri; Nebraska; North Dakota; South Dakota;
Metropolitan areas	Twin Cities, MN; St. Louis, MO; Kansas City, MO; Omaha, NE; Wichita, KS; Des Moines, IA; Sioux Falls, SD; Fargo, ND;
Largest city	Kansas City, MO
Area
• Total	507,913 sq mi (1,315,490 km2)
Population (2020)
• Total	21,616,921
• Density	43/sq mi (16/km2)

The West North Central states form one of the nine geographic subdivisions within the United States that are officially recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Seven states compose the division: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota and it makes up the western half of the United States Census Bureau's larger region of the Midwest, the eastern half of which consists of the East North Central states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.^[1] The Mississippi River marks the bulk of the boundary between these two divisions.

The West North Central states are regarded as constituting the core of the nation's "Farm Belt." Another name popularly applied to the division is the "Agricultural Heartland," or simply the "Heartland."

Since the early 1990s, the West North Central division has consistently had the lowest unemployment rate in the United States (especially in its many college towns), and has also been noted for its plentiful supply of affordable housing.

Demographics

As of 2020, the West North Central states had a combined population of 21,616,921. This number is a 5.4% increase from 20,505,437 in 2010. The West North Central region covers 507,913 square miles (1,315,489 km²) of land, and has an average population density of 42.56 people per square mile.

**States in the West North Central**
State	2020 census	Land area
Iowa	3,190,369	56,272
Kansas	2,937,880	82,277
Minnesota	5,706,494	86,939
Missouri	6,154,913	69,709
Nebraska	1,961,504	77,354
North Dakota	779,094	70,700
South Dakota	886,667	77,116

**Ten largest cities by population in the West North Central**
	City	2020 pop.
1	Kansas City, Missouri	508,090
2	Omaha, Nebraska	484,983
3	Minneapolis, Minnesota	434,341
4	Wichita, Kansas	390,780
5	St. Louis, Missouri	318,416
6	St. Paul, Minnesota	310,468
7	St. Louis, Missouri	292,601
8	Lincoln, Nebraska	292,201
9	Des Moines, Iowa	215,293
10	Overland Park, Kansas	197,783

Largest metropolitan areas (2020)
1	Twin Cities (MN-WI)	3,685,561
2	St. Louis, MO-IL	2,806,100
3	Kansas City, Missouri-KS	2,172,902
4	Omaha, Nebraska-IA	963,221
5	Des Moines, Iowa	721,326
6	Wichita, Kansas	649,230
7	Springfield, Missouri	473,702
8	Quad Cities IA-IL (Davenport)	376,502
9	Lincoln, Nebraska	340,954
10	Duluth, MN-WI	287,430

Politics

Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota have consistently voted for Republican presidential candidates since 1968. Minnesota has consistently voted for Democratic presidential candidates since 1976. Missouri has consistently voted for Republican presidential candidates since 2000. Iowa voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, but previously voted for Democratic presidential candidates from 2012 to 1988, except in 2004 when it voted for George W. Bush.

Parties
Democratic-Republican	Democratic	Republican	Liberal Republican	Populist	Progressive

Bold denotes election winner.

Year	Iowa	Kansas	Minnesota	Missouri	Nebraska	North Dakota	South Dakota
Presidential electoral votes in the West North Central states since 1824
1824	No election	No election	No election	Clay	No election	No election	No election
1828	No election	No election	No election	Jackson	No election	No election	No election
1832	No election	No election	No election	Jackson	No election	No election	No election
1836	No election	No election	No election	Van Buren	No election	No election	No election
1840	No election	No election	No election	Van Buren	No election	No election	No election
1844	No election	No election	No election	Polk	No election	No election	No election
1848	Cass	No election	No election	Cass	No election	No election	No election
1852	Pierce	No election	No election	Pierce	No election	No election	No election
1856	Frémont	No election	No election	Buchanan	No election	No election	No election
1860	Lincoln	No election	Lincoln	Douglas	No election	No election	No election
1864	Lincoln	Lincoln	Lincoln	Lincoln	No election	No election	No election
1868	Grant	Grant	Grant	Grant	Grant	No election	No election
1872	Grant	Grant	Grant	Brown	Grant	No election	No election
1876	Hayes	Hayes	Hayes	Tilden	Hayes	No election	No election
1880	Garfield	Garfield	Garfield	Hancock	Garfield	No election	No election
1884	Blaine	Blaine	Blaine	Cleveland	Blaine	No election	No election
1888	Harrison	Harrison	Harrison	Cleveland	Harrison	No election	No election
1892	Harrison	Weaver	Harrison	Cleveland	Harrison	Weaver	Harrison
1896	McKinley	Bryan	McKinley	Bryan	Bryan	McKinley	Bryan
1900	McKinley	McKinley	McKinley	Bryan	McKinley	McKinley	McKinley
1904	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1908	Taft	Taft	Taft	Taft	Bryan	Taft	Taft
1912	Wilson	Wilson	Roosevelt	Wilson	Wilson	Wilson	Roosevelt
1916	Hughes	Wilson	Hughes	Wilson	Wilson	Wilson	Hughes
1920	Harding	Harding	Harding	Harding	Harding	Harding	Harding
1924	Coolidge	Coolidge	Coolidge	Coolidge	Coolidge	Coolidge	Coolidge
1928	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover
1932	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1936	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1940	Willkie	Willkie	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Willkie	Willkie	Willkie
1944	Dewey	Dewey	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Dewey	Dewey	Dewey
1948	Truman	Dewey	Truman	Truman	Dewey	Dewey	Dewey
1952	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower
1956	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Stevenson	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower
1960	Nixon	Nixon	Kennedy	Kennedy	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon
1964	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson
1968	Nixon	Nixon	Humphrey	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon
1972	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon
1976	Ford	Ford	Carter	Carter	Ford	Ford	Ford
1980	Reagan	Reagan	Carter	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan
1984	Reagan	Reagan	Mondale	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan
1988	Dukakis	Bush	Dukakis	Bush	Bush	Bush	Bush
1992	Clinton	Bush	Clinton	Clinton	Bush	Bush	Bush
1996	Clinton	Dole	Clinton	Clinton	Dole	Dole	Dole
2000	Gore	Bush	Gore	Bush	Bush	Bush	Bush
2004	Bush	Bush	Kerry	Bush	Bush	Bush	Bush
2008	Obama	McCain	Obama	McCain	McCain^[†]	McCain	McCain
2012	Obama	Romney	Obama	Romney	Romney	Romney	Romney
2016	Trump	Trump	Clinton	Trump	Trump	Trump	Trump
2020	Trump	Trump	Biden	Trump	Trump^[†]	Trump	Trump
Year	Iowa	Kansas	Minnesota	Missouri	Nebraska	North Dakota	South Dakota