List of regions of the United States

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.^[1]^[2] The Census Bureau region definition is "widely used ... for data collection and analysis",^[3] and is the most commonly used classification system.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Region 1: Northeast
- Division 1: New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont)
- Division 2: Middle Atlantic (New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania)
Region 2: Midwest (designated as the North Central Region before June 1984)^[8]
- Division 3: East North Central (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin)
- Division 4: West North Central (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota)
Region 3: South
- Division 5: South Atlantic (Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia)
- Division 6: East South Central (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee)
- Division 7: West South Central (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas)
Region 4: West
- Division 8: Mountain (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming)
- Division 9: Pacific (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington)

Puerto Rico and other US territories are not part of any census region or census division.^[9]

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.

Time zones

UTC−12:00 (Baker Island, Howland Island)
Samoa Time Zone (American Samoa, Jarvis Island, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll)
Hawaii–Aleutian 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)^[10]
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",^[11] 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,^[12]and the complete rescinding of the standard region system in 1995,^[13]several agencies continue to follow the system, including the Environmental Protection Agency^[14] and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.^[15]

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, and American Samoa

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.^[16]

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

Mariana Islands (Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands)
Samoan Islands (American Samoa, except Swains Island)^{[note 1]}
Virgin Islands (the Spanish Virgin Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands)^{[note 2]}

The Belts

Interstate megalopolises

Interstate metropolitan areas

Central Savannah River Area (part of Georgia and South Carolina)
Baltimore–Washington 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)
Delaware Valley (parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland)
Evansville, IN–KY Metropolitan Statistical Area (parts of Indiana and Kentucky)
Fargo–Moorhead (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)
Minneapolis–Saint Paul (the Twin Cities) (parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin)
New York metropolitan area (parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania)
Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area (parts of Nebraska and Iowa)
Portland metropolitan area (parts of Oregon and Washington)
Quad Cities (parts of Iowa and Illinois)
Sacramento metropolitan area (parts of California and Nevada)
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)
Youngstown–Warren–Boardman 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:

Central Colorado (part of Southern Rocky Mountains)
Colorado Eastern Plains (part of High Plains)
Colorado Mineral Belt (part of Southern Rocky Mountains)
Colorado Piedmont (parts of the Front Range Urban Corridor and Colorado High Plains)
Colorado Plateau (multi-state region)
Colorado Western Slope (parts of Southern Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau)
Denver Metropolitan Area (part of Front Range Urban Corridor)
Four Corners Region (multi-state region of Colorado Plateau)
Front Range Urban Corridor (multi-state region)
High Plains (multi-state region of Great Plains)
North Central Colorado Urban Area (part of Front Range Urban Corridor)
Northwestern Colorado (part of Southern Rocky Mountains)
San Luis Valley
South-Central Colorado
South Central Colorado Urban Area (part of Front Range Urban Corridor)
Southern Rocky Mountains (multi-state region of Rocky Mountains)
Southwestern Colorado (parts of Southern Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau)

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: