Which U.S. states do you think are in the Midwest?

[HeManSkaterDad]

Nebraska university mascot is Cornhusker! Corn fed beef makes for the best steaks. ND, SD Kansas, and OK are more Midwestern than Ohio.

I don't think we can rely on college mascots. OSU is the Cowboys, and Cowboys don't usually imply midwest. If you associate midwest with the corn belt/grain belt, then there is a pretty strong argument for Nebraska, western Ohio and southern Minnesota, and not so much Missouri.

It really depends on how you frame the question, plus, why feel bound by state borders. I think it is more defined by geographic barriers that both result in a change in climate, land use and even accessibility. IUsng just geography, I would define the borders of the midwest as follows:

North - The Great Lakes from the eastern boundary to the western edge of Lake Michigan, then the northern edge of the Great Plains (a little bit of Wisconsin, most of Iowa, about the eastern third of Nebraska)

East – the western edge of the Allegheny Plateau (roughly splits Ohio in half north to south)

South - The Ohio River from the eastern boundary to the Mississippi River, then the southern edge of the Great Plains (about the northern half of Missouri and eastern half of Kansas).

West – The western edge of the great plains (roughly splits Kansas, Nebraska in half, north to south).

 

[LilJen]

I completely forgot that Indiana exists...

Ha. It's not called the "Crossroads of America" for nothing. . . everyone drives through and forgets. There are some nice spots, but I would not rank Indiana among the top places I have lived.

 

[Rob]

Yes New York as Northeast. And Pennsylvania. But then it gets sticky down here. Washington DC is East Coast but not Northeast. Maryland is what?

Mid-Atlantic. Border State.


For some reason, I put Oklahoma and Kansas in the Mid-Western state of mind and the Dakotas in the Western state of mind even though they aren't further West. I don't think of Great Plains as a separate interest. I definitely put Michigan/Minnesota/Wisconsin in the mid-west too.

Kentucky and Arkansas I think of as the South.

 

[skatingfan5]

Kentucky and Arkansas I think of as the South.

That's because they are!

ETA: And I don't much trust the opinion of someone who would exclude Minnesota from the Midwest because it has too much Scandinavian influence and heritage to be included with the likes of Illinois.

 

[Vash01]

Where do the Dakotas fit in? I think they are Midwest too. I think everything from Ohio to Colorado is Midwest.

Colorado is considered the west, I think. Geographically ND and SD should be the Midwest but I always think of ND as the 'North'

SD should be considered the Midwest.

 

[clairecloutier]

So when I did this, I put the following states in the Midwest:

Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia

My husband disagreed and said the Midwest is just:

Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota

He says that Iowa/Nebraska are Great Plains states (along with the Dakotas) and that Missouri/Kentucky/West Virginia are part of the South (although the culture in some spots is more Appalachian). He gave me that look: "You silly Northeasterner."

I'm from the NYC area and live in Boston. He grew up in the northern edge of Tennessee, his dad is from central Ohio, his mom is from West Virginia. Guess he wins?!