Guide Rankings Geography Updated June 3, 2026

Midwest States: Official 12-State List, Map, and Boundaries

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, reflected in the Mississippi River at dusk with the city skyline behind it

Midwest States: Official 12-State List, Map, and Boundaries

Ranking - Geography

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis stands 630 feet tall — the tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. Missouri is one of the 12 Census Midwest states and sits on the western bank of the Mississippi River, the traditional eastern boundary of westward expansion.

Quick Answer

Midwest States: Official 12-State List, Map, and Boundaries

  1. 1

    Twelve states make up the Census Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Census renamed this region from North Central in 1984.

  2. 2

    The six Great Lakes states — Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin — are universally recognized as Midwest. The four Great Plains states in the Census Midwest — Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota — are sometimes classified as the Great Plains region instead.

  3. 3

    Illinois has the largest Midwest population at approximately 12.5 million. North Dakota has the smallest at approximately 779,000, despite occupying 70,698 square miles. Michigan has the largest total area at 96,714 square miles.

Map

Midwest States Map

Midwest Status
No data
Michigan (96,714 sq mi) is the largest Midwest state by total area. North Dakota (779,000 population) is the smallest Midwest state by population. The four Great Plains states — Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota — sit west of the Missouri River and are sometimes categorized separately from the Great Lakes core.
Midwest States Map
Rank State Midwest Status
1 Michigan 3
2 Minnesota 3
3 Kansas 2
4 Nebraska 2
5 South Dakota 2
6 North Dakota 2
7 Missouri 3
8 Wisconsin 3
9 Illinois 3
10 Iowa 3
11 Ohio 3
12 Indiana 3

Michigan (96,714 sq mi) is the largest Midwest state by total area. North Dakota (779,000 population) is the smallest Midwest state by population. The four Great Plains states — Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota — sit west of the Missouri River and are sometimes categorized separately from the Great Lakes core.

Midwest States: Official 12-State List, Map, and Boundaries Table

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What States Are in the Midwest?

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri rising above the Mississippi River waterfront
The Gateway Arch, completed in 1965, is 630 feet tall — the tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. It marks the departure point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804.

Twelve states make up the Census Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Census Bureau divides these into two sub-regions: the East North Central division (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin) and the West North Central division (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota). Illinois has the largest Midwest population at approximately 12.5 million; North Dakota has the smallest at approximately 779,000.

Michigan is the largest Midwest state by total area at 96,714 square miles — a figure that includes significant Great Lakes surface area. Indiana is the smallest Midwest state by total area at 36,420 square miles. The region spans from Lake Superior in the north to the Missouri-Arkansas border in the south, and from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border in the east to the Nebraska-Wyoming and Kansas-Colorado borders in the west.

Which Midwest States Are Sometimes Called Great Plains?

Eroded buttes and spires of Badlands National Park in South Dakota against a wide open sky
South Dakota's Badlands illustrate why the four western Census Midwest states — Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota — are frequently classified as Great Plains rather than Midwest. The terrain, economy, and climate differ sharply from the Great Lakes states to the east.

Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota hold Census Midwest status but are frequently classified as Great Plains states. All four sit west of the Missouri River, where terrain transitions from glaciated lake country to flat, semi-arid prairie. South Dakota (77,116 square miles) and Kansas (82,278 square miles) are among the flattest states in the country and are culturally more aligned with the ranching and wheat-farming Great Plains economy than with the Rust Belt and corn-belt industries of the Great Lakes states.

Missouri occupies a middle position: St. Louis (population approximately 2.8 million metro) and Kansas City (approximately 2.2 million metro) are unambiguously Midwestern cities, while the southern Ozark region resembles neighboring Arkansas. Most geographic sources treat Missouri as core Midwest despite its West North Central Census classification.

Largest and Smallest Midwest States

Michigan is the largest Midwest state by total area at 96,714 square miles, followed by Minnesota at 86,936 square miles. Indiana is the smallest Midwest state by total area at 36,420 square miles, followed by Ohio at 44,826 square miles. By population, Illinois (approximately 12.5 million) and Ohio (approximately 11.8 million) are the two most populous Midwest states; North Dakota (approximately 779,000) and South Dakota (approximately 887,000) are the least populous.

Quick Answers

What states are in the Midwest?
Twelve states make up the Census Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Census has used this 12-state definition since 1984, when the region was renamed from North Central to Midwest.
How many states are in the Midwest?
There are 12 states in the Census Midwest. In everyday usage, the count varies widely — some people use Midwest to mean only the 6 Great Lakes states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin), while others extend it to 12 or 13 states including Great Plains states like Kansas and Nebraska.
Is Missouri in the Midwest?
Yes. Missouri is one of the 12 Census Midwest states, in the West North Central division. St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri's two largest cities, are both considered core Midwest cities. Most geographic references treat Missouri as unambiguously Midwest.
Is Kansas in the Midwest?
By Census definition, yes — Kansas is one of the 12 Census Midwest states in the West North Central division. However, Kansas is frequently classified as a Great Plains state in popular usage and some geographic references. The geographic center of the contiguous 48 states is in Smith County, Kansas.
What is the largest Midwest state?
Michigan is the largest Midwest state by total area at 96,714 square miles. Minnesota is second at 86,936 square miles. By population, Illinois is the largest Midwest state at approximately 12.5 million residents, followed by Ohio at approximately 11.8 million.
What is the smallest Midwest state?
Indiana is the smallest Midwest state by total area at 36,420 square miles. By population, North Dakota is the smallest Midwest state at approximately 779,000 residents, followed by South Dakota at approximately 887,000.

Methodology

Census region classification follows the U.S. Census Bureau's four-region system, revised in 1984 when the North Central region was renamed Midwest. The 12-state composition is fixed. The midwest_score reflects how consistently each state is identified as Midwest across geographic sources: 3 = universally recognized, 2 = Census-included but frequently identified as Great Plains instead.

Sources

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.
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