This is a list of some of the ways regions are defined in the United States. Many regions are defined in law or regulations by the federal government; others by shared culture and history, and others by economic factors.
Interstate regions
Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions
Since 1950, the United States Census Bureau defines four statistical regions, with nine divisions. The Census Bureau region definition is "widely used[...] for data collection and analysis", and is the most commonly used classification system.
Puerto Rico and other US territories are not part of any census region or census division.
Federal Reserve Banks
The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 divided the country into twelve districts with a central Federal Reserve Bank in each district. These twelve Federal Reserve Banks together form a major part of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. Missouri is the only U.S. state to have two Federal Reserve locations within its borders, but several other states are also divided between more than one district.
- Boston
- New York
- Philadelphia
- Cleveland
- Richmond
- Atlanta
- Chicago
- St. Louis
- Minneapolis
- Kansas City
- Dallas
- San Francisco
Time zones
- (Baker Island, Howland Island)
- Samoa Time Zone (American Samoa, Jarvis Island, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll)
- HawaiiâÂÂAleutian Time Zone (Hawaii, Aleutian Islands (Alaska), Johnston Atoll)
- Alaska Time Zone (Alaska, excluding Aleutian Islands)
- Pacific Time Zone
- Arizona Time Zone (excluding the Navajo Nation)
- Mountain Time Zone (excluding most parts of Arizona)
- Central Time Zone
- Eastern Time Zone
- Atlantic Time Zone (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands)
- Chamorro Time Zone (Guam, Northern Mariana Islands)
- Wake Island Time Zone (Wake Island)
Courts of Appeals circuits
The Federal Circuit is not a regional circuit. Its jurisdiction is nationwide but based on the subject matter.
Agency administrative regions
In 1969, the Office of Management and Budget published a list of ten "Standard Federal Regions", to which federal agencies could be restructured as a means of standardizing government administration nationwide. Despite a finding in 1977 that this restructuring did not reduce administrative costs as initially expected, and the complete rescinding of the standard region system in 1995, several agencies continue to follow the system, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Regions and office locations
Region I
Office location: Boston
States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont
Region II
Office location: New York City
States: New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Region III
Office location: Philadelphia
States: Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia
Region IV
Office location: Atlanta
States: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee
Region V
Office location: Chicago
States: Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin
Region VI
Office location: Dallas
States: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas
Region VII
Office location: Kansas City
States: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska
Region VIII
Office location: Denver
States: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming
Region IX
Office location: San Francisco
States: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands in the Pacific, the Freely Associated States of the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.
Region X
Office location: Seattle
States: Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington
Bureau of Economic Analysis regions
The Bureau of Economic Analysis defines regions for comparison of economic data.
- New England: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont
- Mideast: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C.
- Great Lakes: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin
- Plains: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota
- Southeast: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia
- Southwest: Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas
- Rocky Mountain: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming
- Far West: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington
Unofficial regions
Multi-state regions
Multi-territory regions
The Belts
Interstate megalopolises
Interstate metropolitan areas
- Augusta metropolitan area (parts of Georgia and South Carolina)
- Central Savannah River Area (part of Georgia and South Carolina)
- BaltimoreâÂÂWashington metropolitan area (Washington, D.C. and parts of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania)
- Washington metropolitan area (District of Columbia and parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia)
- Greater Boston (parts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire)
- Charlotte metropolitan area (parts of North Carolina and South Carolina)
- Chattanooga Metropolitan Area
- Chicago metropolitan area (parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin)
- Cincinnati metropolitan area (parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky)
- Columbus-Auburn-Opelika (GA-AL) Combined Statistical Area (parts of Georgia and Alabama)
- Evansville, INâÂÂKY Metropolitan Statistical Area (parts of Indiana and Kentucky)
- FargoâÂÂMoorhead (parts of North Dakota and Minnesota)
- Fort Smith metropolitan area (parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma)
- Front Range Urban Corridor (parts of Colorado and Wyoming)
- Greater Grand Forks (part of Minnesota and North Dakota)
- Hartford-Springfield (parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts)
- Kansas City metropolitan area (parts of Missouri and Kansas)
- Louisville metropolitan area (Kentuckiana) (parts of Kentucky and Indiana)
- Memphis metropolitan area (parts of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi)
- Michiana (parts of Michigan and Indiana)
- South Bend-Mishawaka metropolitan area (parts of Indiana and Michigan)
- MinneapolisâÂÂSaint Paul (the Twin Cities) (parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin)
- New York metropolitan area (parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania)
- OmahaâÂÂCouncil Bluffs metropolitan area (parts of Nebraska and Iowa)
- Philadelphia metropolitan area (parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland)
- Portland metropolitan area (parts of Oregon and Washington)
- Providence metropolitan area (parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts)
- Quad Cities (parts of Iowa and Illinois)
- Sioux City metropolitan area (parts of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota)
- Sioux Falls metropolitan area (parts of South Dakota and Minnesota)
- Greater St. Louis (parts of Missouri and Illinois)
- Texarkana metropolitan area (parts of Texas and Arkansas)
- Tri-Cities (parts of Tennessee and Virginia)
- Twin Ports (Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin)
- Hampton Roads region (parts of Virginia and North Carolina)
- YoungstownâÂÂWarrenâÂÂBoardman metropolitan statistical area (parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania)
Intrastate and intraterritory regions
Alabama
Regions of Alabama include:
Alaska
Regions of Alaska include:
American Samoa
Regions of American Samoa include:
Arizona
Regions of Arizona include:
Arkansas
Regions of Arkansas include:
California
Colorado
Regions of Colorado include:
Connecticut
Connecticut has nine official planning regions, which operate as councils of governments and are recognized as county equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau. The nine regions are:
Some of Connecticut's informal regions include:
Delaware
Regions of Delaware include:
"Slower Lower":
District of Columbia
Florida
Directional regions of Florida include:
Local vernacular regions of Florida include:
Georgia
Regions of Georgia include:
Physiographic regions
Physiographic regions of Georgia include:
Guam
Regions of Guam include:
Hawaii
Regions of Hawaii include:
Idaho
Regions of Idaho include:
Illinois
Regions of Illinois include:
Indiana
Regions of Indiana include:
Iowa
Regions of Iowa include:
Kansas
Regions of Kansas include:
Kentucky
Regions of Kentucky include:
Louisiana
Regions of Louisiana include:
* Cajun Heartland
* River Parishes
Maine
Regions of Maine include:
Maryland
Regions of Maryland include:
Regions of Maryland shared with other states include:
Massachusetts
Regions of Massachusetts include:
Michigan
Regions of Michigan include:
Lower Peninsula
Upper Peninsula
Minnesota
Regions of Minnesota include:
Mississippi
Regions of Mississippi include:
Missouri
Regions of Missouri include:
Montana
Regions of Montana include:
Nebraska
Regions of Nebraska include:
Nevada
Regions of Nevada include:
New Hampshire
Regions of New Hampshire include:
New Jersey
Regions of New Jersey include:
New Mexico
Regions of New Mexico include:
New York
The ten regions of New York, as defined by the Empire State Development Corporation:
- Capital District â counties : Albany, Columbia, Greene, Warren, Washington, Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer
- Central New York â counties: Cortland, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oswego, Madison
- Finger Lakes â counties: Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Monroe, Livingston, Wayne, Ontario, Yates, Seneca
- Hudson Valley â counties: Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester
- Long Island â counties: Nassau, Suffolk
- Mohawk Valley â counties: Oneida, Herkimer, Fulton, Montgomery, Otsego, Schoharie
- New York City â counties (boroughs): New York (Manhattan), Bronx (The Bronx), Queens (Queens), Kings (Brooklyn), Richmond (Staten Island)
- North Country â counties : St. Lawrence, Lewis, Jefferson, Hamilton, Essex, Clinton, Franklin
- Southern Tier â counties: Steuben, Schuyler, Chemung, Tompkins, Tioga, Chenango, Broome, Delaware
- Western New York â counties: Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany
Regions of New York state include:
North Carolina
Regions of North Carolina include:
North Dakota
Regions of North Dakota include:
Northern Mariana Islands
Regions of the Northern Mariana Islands include:
Ohio
Regions of Ohio include:
Oklahoma
Regions of Oklahoma include:
Oregon
Regions of Oregon include:
Pennsylvania
Regions of Pennsylvania include:
Puerto Rico
Regions of Puerto Rico include:
Rhode Island
Regions of Rhode Island include:
South Carolina
Regions of South Carolina include:
South Dakota
Regions of South Dakota include:
Tennessee
The Grand Divisions of Tennessee include:
Texas
Regions of Texas include:
U.S. Minor Outlying Islands
Regions of United States Minor Outlying Islands include:
U.S. Virgin Islands
Regions of United States Virgin Islands include:
Utah
Regions of Utah include:
Vermont
Regions of Vermont include:
Virginia
Regions of Virginia include:
Washington
Regions of Washington include:
West Virginia
Regions of West Virginia include:
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is divided into five geographic regions:
Wyoming
Regions of Wyoming include:
See also
Notes
References
External links