Mid-Atlantic (United States)

The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the Northeastern and Southeastern states of the United States. Its exact definition differs upon source, but the region typically includes New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia, District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania. Some sources include New York, while others exclude Pennsylvania. However, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the states listed above are commonly accepted as the Mid-Atlantic region. The region has its origin in the Middle Colonies of the 18th century when its states were among the Thirteen Colonies of pre-revolutionary British America. As of the 2020 census, the region had a population of 60,783,913, representing slightly over 18% of the nation's population.

Mid-Atlantic
Left to right from top: The Lower Manhattan skyline in New York City, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Assateague Island, the Philadelphia skyline, and the Catskills seen from the Hudson River
Coordinates: 41°N 77°W / 41; -77
Composition	New York New Jersey Maryland Pennsylvania Delaware Virginia West Virginia Washington, D.C.
Metropolitan areas	Buffalo–Niagara Falls Albany–Schenectady–Troy Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington New York–Newark–Jersey City Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton Pittsburgh Rochester Richmond Syracuse Washington Scranton–Wilkes-Barre Harrisburg–York–Lebanon Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News Baltimore–Columbia–Towson
Largest city	New York
Area
• Total	191,299.86 sq mi (495,464.4 km2)
• Land	174,468.45 sq mi (451,871.2 km2)
• Water	16,831.41 sq mi (43,593.2 km2)  8.80%
Population  (2020)
• Total	60,783,913
• Density	320/sq mi (120/km2)
GDP (nominal)
• Q3 2022	$5.233 trillion

The Mid-Atlantic region played an instrumental and historic role in the nation's founding and the development of the nation. Each of the seven states were members of the Thirteen Colonies that sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress, which assembled in Philadelphia and unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, and formalized the Continental Army under George Washington's command during the American Revolutionary War. Following independence, the states again gathered in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention, in 1788, where they ratified the United States Constitution, which remains the oldest and longest-standing written and codified national constitution in force in the world.

The Mid-Atlantic region was settled during the colonial era between the early 17th century and the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 by European Americans of primarily Dutch, German, Swedish, English, and other Western European ethnicities. Religious pluralism and freedoms existed in the original Thirteen Colonies and were particularly prevalent in Province of Pennsylvania and the geographic region that ultimately broke from Pennsylvania to form the Delaware Colony. Among the 13 colonies, the Province of Maryland was the only colony with a substantial Catholic population.

Following the American Revolutionary War, the Mid-Atlantic region hosted each of the historic capitals of the United States. The nation's capital was constructed in Washington, D.C. in the late 18th century, and relocated there from Philadelphia in 1800.

In the early part of the 19th century, New York and Pennsylvania overtook Virginia as the nation's two most populous states, and the Mid-Atlantic region overtook New England as the most important trading and industrial center in the nation. During this period, large numbers of German, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Polish, and other immigrants arrived in the region's coastal cities, including Baltimore, Newark, New York City, Philadelphia, and interior cities such as Pittsburgh, and Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo, with their skyscrapers and subways, which emerged as icons of modernity and American economic and cultural power in the 20th century.

In the late 19th century, the region played a vital and historic role in the development of American culture, commerce, trade, and industry sectors. Historian Frederick Jackson Turner labeled it "typically American."

The Northeast Corridor and Interstate 95 in the region link an almost contiguous urban region, which includes large and small cities and their respective suburbs and forms the Northeast megalopolis, one of the world's most important concentrations of finance, media, communications, education, medicine, and technology. The Mid-Atlantic is a relatively affluent region of the nation; nearly half of the nation's 100 highest-income counties based on median household income are located in the Mid-Atlantic, and 33 of the nation's top 100 counties based on per capita income are in the region. Most of the Mid-Atlantic states rank among the 15 highest-income states in the nation by both median household income and per capita income.

The region is home to eight of the top 25 ranked universities in the nation: Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; Columbia University and NYU in New York City; Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey; the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh; Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia according to U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Ranking.

Composition

Definitions of the geographic components of the Mid-Atlantic region differ slightly among sources. Generally speaking, the region is inclusive of the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, and the federal district of the District of Columbia, with some additional sources including or excluding other areas in parts of the Northeast region and the South Atlantic states, for practical reasons.

The United States Census Bureau defines the Mid-Atlantic as a sub-region of the Northeast and only includes New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The Bureau of Labor Statistics excludes New York; the Environmental Protection Agency excludes New York and New Jersey; and the U.S. Department of Transportation - United States Maritime Administration includes North Carolina. In 2004, the United States Geological Survey within the context of Ground-Water Vulnerability to Nitrate Contamination, defined the region as including Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., and parts of New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina.

West Virginia and Virginia are atypical of this region in a few ways. These states both primarily lie within the Southern American dialect region, and the major religious tradition is largely Evangelical Christian, with 30% in Virginia and 39% in West Virginia identifying as evangelicals. Although a few of West Virginia's eastern panhandle counties are considered part of the Washington metropolitan area, the major portion of the state is rural and there are no major or even large cities.

• 
  A USGS fact sheet on the Mid-Atlantic region's groundwater
• 
  An 1897 map displaying a broad definition of the Mid-Atlantic region
• 
  An 1886 Harper's School Geography map showing the region, which excludes Virginia and West Virginia
• 
  The U.S. Census Bureau's geographic definition of the Mid-Atlantic includes three states, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania

History

Shipping containers at Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey

Shipping and trade have been important to the Mid-Atlantic economy since the beginning of the colonial era. The explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to see the region in 1524. Henry Hudson later extensively explored that region in 1611 and claimed it for the Dutch, who then created a fur-trading post in Albany in 1614. Jamestown, Virginia was the first permanent English colony in North America, it was established seven years earlier in 1607.

From early colonial times, the Mid-Atlantic region was settled by a wider range of European people than in New England or the South. The Dutch New Netherland settlement along the Hudson River in New York City and New Jersey, and for a time, New Sweden along the Delaware River in Delaware, divided the two great bulwarks of English settlement from each other. The original English settlements in the region notably provided refuge to religious minorities, Maryland to Roman Catholics and Pennsylvania to Quakers and Anabaptist Pennsylvania Dutch. In time, all these settlements fell under English colonial control, but the region continued to be a magnet for people of diverse nationalities.

The area that came to be known as the Middle Colonies served as a strategic bridge between the North and South. The New York and New Jersey campaign during the American Revolutionary War saw more battles than any other theater of the conflict. Philadelphia, midway between the northern and southern colonies, was home to the Continental Congress, the convention of delegates who organized the American Revolution. Philadelphia also was the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the United States Constitution in 1787, while the United States Bill of Rights was drafted and ratified and the first Supreme Court of the United States sat for the first time, in the first capital under the Constitution of New York.

While early settlers were mostly farmers, traders, and fishermen, the Mid-Atlantic states provided the young United States with heavy industry and served as the "melting pot" of new immigrants from Europe. Cities grew along major ports, shipping routes, and waterways, including New York City and Newark on opposite sides of the Hudson River, Philadelphia on the Delaware River, Allentown on the Lehigh River, and Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay.

Major states, cities, and urban areas

New York City

Philadelphia

Baltimore

Washington, D.C.

Metropolitan areas

Largest metropolitan statistical areas by population in the Mid-Atlantic Region

	MSA	2020 census	2010 census
1	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	20,140,470	18,897,109
2	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	6,385,162	5,649,540
3	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	6,245,051	5,965,343
4	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	2,844,510	2,710,489
5	Pittsburgh, PA	2,370,930	2,356,285
6	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	1,799,674	1,713,954
7	Richmond, VA	1,314,434	1,186,501
8	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	1,166,902	1,135,509
9	Rochester, NY	1,090,135	1,079,671
10	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	899,262	870,716

Top ten largest cities by population in the Mid-Atlantic Region

	City	2020 census	Total area
1	New York, NY	8,804,190	472.43 sq mi
2	Philadelphia, PA	1,603,797	142.70 sq mi
3	Washington, D.C.	689,545	68.35 sq mi
4	Baltimore, MD	585,708	92.05 sq mi
5	Virginia Beach, VA	459,470	497.50 sq mi
6	Newark, NJ	311,549	25.88 sq mi
7	Pittsburgh, PA	302,971	58.35 sq mi
8	Jersey City, NJ	292,449	21.03 sq mi
9	Buffalo, NY	278,349	52.48 sq mi
10	Chesapeake, VA	249,422	350.95 sq mi

Top ten largest towns/townships by population in the Mid-Atlantic region

	Township	2020 census
1.	Hempstead, NY	793,409
2.	Brookhaven, NY	485,773
3.	Islip, NY	339,938
4.	Oyster Bay, NY	301,332
5.	N. Hempstead, NY	237,639
6.	Babylon, NY	218,223
7	Huntington, NY	204,127
8	Ramapo, NY	148,919
9	Lakewood Township, NJ	135,158
10.	Amherst, NY	129,595

States and federal district

	State or federal district	2020 census	Total area
1	New York	20,201,249	54,555 sq mi
2	Pennsylvania	13,002,700	46,055 sq mi
3	New Jersey	9,288,994	8,722.58 sq mi
4	Virginia	8,631,393	42,774.2 sq mi
5	Maryland	6,177,224	12,407 sq mi
6	West Virginia	1,793,716	24,230 sq mi
7	Delaware	989,948	2,489 sq mi
8	District of Columbia	689,545	68.35 sq mi

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1790	2,085,066		—
1800	2,702,679		29.6%
1810	3,466,545		28.3%
1820	4,278,349		23.4%
1830	5,362,691		25.3%
1840	6,357,873		18.6%
1850	8,046,649		26.6%
1860	9,929,648		23.4%
1870	11,515,592		16.0%
1880	13,887,075		20.6%
1890	16,566,269		19.3%
1900	19,919,159		20.2%
1910	24,427,360		22.6%
1920	28,144,267		15.2%
1930	32,768,581		16.4%
1940	34,870,074		6.4%
1950	38,951,029		11.7%
1960	44,306,759		13.7%
1970	48,818,784		10.2%
1980	49,532,898		1.5%
1990	51,637,657		4.2%
2000	55,210,865		6.9%
2010	57,999,602		5.1%
2020	60,783,913		4.8%
Source:1790–2020

State capitals and federal district

	Capital	2020 census	Total area
1	Washington, D.C.	689,545	68.35 sq mi
2	Richmond, Virginia	226,610	62.57 sq mi
3	Albany, New York	99,224	21.94 sq mi
4	Trenton, New Jersey	90,871	8.20 sq mi
5	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	50,099	11.86 sq mi
6	Charleston, West Virginia	48,864	32.64 sq mi
7	Annapolis, Maryland	40,812	8.11 sq mi
8	Dover, Delaware	39,403	23.97 sq mi

Note: The Mid-Atlantic region is also home to the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.

In presidential elections

Parties
Nonpartisan	Federalist	Democratic-Republican	National Republican	Democratic	Whig	Know Nothing	Republican	Constitutional Union	Progressive

• Bold denotes election winner.

Presidential electoral votes in the Mid-Atlantic states since 1789
Year	Delaware	District of Columbia	Maryland	New Jersey	New York	Pennsylvania	Virginia	West Virginia
1789	Washington	No election	Washington	Washington	Gridlocked	Washington	Washington	No election
1792	Washington	No election	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington	No election
1796	Adams	No election	Adams	Adams	Adams	Jefferson	Jefferson	No election
1800	Adams	No election	Jefferson	Adams	Jefferson	Jefferson	Jefferson	No election
1804	Pinckney	No election	Jefferson	Jefferson	Jefferson	Jefferson	Jefferson	No election
1808	Pinckney	No election	Madison	Madison	Madison	Madison	Madison	No election
1812	Clinton	No election	Madison	Clinton	Clinton	Madison	Madison	No election
1816	King	No election	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	No election
1820	Monroe	No election	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	No election
1824	Crawford	No election	Jackson	Jackson	Adams	Jackson	Crawford	No election
1828	Adams	No election	Adams	Adams	Jackson	Jackson	Jackson	No election
1832	Clay	No election	Clay	Jackson	Jackson	Jackson	Jackson	No election
1836	Harrison	No election	Harrison	Harrison	Van Buren	Van Buren	Van Buren	No election
1840	Harrison	No election	Harrison	Harrison	Harrison	Harrison	Van Buren	No election
1844	Clay	No election	Clay	Clay	Polk	Polk	Polk	No election
1848	Taylor	No election	Taylor	Taylor	Taylor	Taylor	Cass	No election
1852	Pierce	No election	Pierce	Pierce	Pierce	Pierce	Pierce	No election
1856	Buchanan	No election	Fillmore	Buchanan	Frémont	Buchanan	Buchanan	No election
1860	Breckinridge	No election	Breckinridge	Lincoln	Lincoln	Lincoln	Bell	No election
1864	McClellan	No election	Lincoln	McClellan	Lincoln	Lincoln	No election	Lincoln
1868	Seymour	No election	Seymour	Seymour	Seymour	Grant	No election	Grant
1872	Grant	No election	Hendricks	Grant	Grant	Grant	Grant	Grant
1876	Tilden	No election	Tilden	Tilden	Tilden	Hayes	Tilden	Tilden
1880	Hancock	No election	Hancock	Hancock	Garfield	Garfield	Hancock	Hancock
1884	Cleveland	No election	Cleveland	Cleveland	Cleveland	Blaine	Cleveland	Cleveland
1888	Cleveland	No election	Cleveland	Cleveland	Harrison	Harrison	Cleveland	Cleveland
1892	Cleveland	No election	Cleveland	Cleveland	Cleveland	Harrison	Cleveland	Cleveland
1896	McKinley	No election	McKinley	McKinley	McKinley	McKinley	Bryan	McKinley
1900	McKinley	No election	McKinley	McKinley	McKinley	McKinley	Bryan	McKinley
1904	Roosevelt	No election	Parker	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Parker	Roosevelt
1908	Taft	No election	Bryan	Taft	Taft	Taft	Bryan	Taft
1912	Wilson	No election	Wilson	Wilson	Wilson	Roosevelt	Wilson	Wilson
1916	Hughes	No election	Wilson	Hughes	Hughes	Hughes	Wilson	Hughes
1920	Harding	No election	Harding	Harding	Harding	Harding	Cox	Harding
1924	Coolidge	No election	Coolidge	Coolidge	Coolidge	Coolidge	Davis	Coolidge
1928	Hoover	No election	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover
1932	Hoover	No election	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Hoover	Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1936	Roosevelt	No election	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1940	Roosevelt	No election	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1944	Roosevelt	No election	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1948	Dewey	No election	Dewey	Dewey	Dewey	Dewey	Truman	Truman
1952	Eisenhower	No election	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Stevenson
1956	Eisenhower	No election	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower
1960	Kennedy	No election	Kennedy	Kennedy	Kennedy	Kennedy	Nixon	Kennedy
1964	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson
1968	Nixon	Humphrey	Humphrey	Nixon	Humphrey	Humphrey	Nixon	Humphrey
1972	Nixon	McGovern	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon
1976	Carter	Carter	Carter	Ford	Carter	Carter	Ford	Carter
1980	Reagan	Carter	Carter	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Carter
1984	Reagan	Mondale	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan
1988	Bush	Dukakis	Bush	Bush	Dukakis	Bush	Bush	Dukakis
1992	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Bush	Clinton
1996	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Dole	Clinton
2000	Gore	Gore	Gore	Gore	Gore	Gore	Bush	Bush
2004	Kerry	Kerry	Kerry	Kerry	Kerry	Kerry	Bush	Bush
2008	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	McCain
2012	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Romney
2016	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Trump	Clinton	Trump
2020	Biden	Biden	Biden	Biden	Biden	Biden	Biden	Trump
2024	Harris	Harris	Harris	Harris	Harris	Trump	Harris	Trump
Year	Delaware	District of Columbia	Maryland	New Jersey	New York	Pennsylvania	Virginia	West Virginia

Culture

Sports

The Mid-Atlantic is home to 33 professional sports franchises in the five major leagues and the two most prominent women's professional leagues:

	NFL	NHL	MLB	NBA	MLS	WNBA	NWSL
New York/New Jersey	Giants Jets	Devils Islanders Rangers	Mets Yankees	Knicks Nets	NYC FC Red Bulls	Liberty	Gotham FC
Washington	Commanders	Capitals	Nationals	Wizards	United	Mystics	Spirit
Philadelphia	Eagles	Flyers	Phillies	76ers	Union
Pittsburgh	Steelers	Penguins	Pirates
Baltimore	Ravens		Orioles
Buffalo	Bills	Sabres

Notable golf tournaments in the Mid-Atlantic include the Barclays, Quicken Loans National and Atlantic City LPGA Classic.

Two high-level professional tennis tournaments are held in the region. The US Open, held in New York, is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, whereas the Washington Open is part of the ATP Tour 500 series and WTA 250 series.

Notable motorsports tracks include Watkins Glen International, Dover Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway, which have hosted Formula One, IndyCar, NASCAR, World Sportscar Championship and IMSA races. Also, the Englishtown and Reading drag strips such have hosted NHRA national events. Pimlico Race Course at Baltimore and Belmont Park at New York host the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes horse races, which are part of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.

Economy

With a GDP nominal of over $5.2 trillion, the Mid-Atlantic economy would be third-largest in the world if calculated separately, only behind the remaining United States and China and nearly $1 trillion larger than next place Japan. This economic prosperity is buoyed by a significant financial services and banking sector, healthcare and chemicals industry, and telecommunications and entertainment conglomerates.

According to the Global Financial Centres Index, the Mid-Atlantic region is home to the leading financial center in the world (New York) at #1, with Washington also present at #15.

Notable companies (over $100 billion market cap) headquartered in the region include:

Company	Headquarters	Market cap ($ billions)	Global rank
Chase	New York, New York	$447.91	13
Johnson and Johnson	New Brunswick, New Jersey	$430.06	15
Mastercard	Harrison, New York	$364.48	22
Pfizer	New York, New York	$272.39	29
PepsiCo	Harrison, New York	$232.01	40
Verizon Communications	New York, New York	$225.96	45
Comcast-NBC	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	$211.42	50
Merck	Kenilworth, New Jersey	$192.90	60
Danaher	Washington, District of Columbia	$190.74	61
Morgan Stanley	New York, New York	$169.08	73
American Express	New York, New York	$147.98	89
Bristol Myers Squibb	New York, New York	$147.23	91
Citigroup	New York, New York	$127.27	105
Goldman Sachs	New York, New York	$115.43	118
BlackRock	New York, New York	$114.67	120
International Business Machines	North Castle, New York	$111.45	124
Estee Lauder	New York, New York	$108.67	130
Lockheed Martin	Bethesda, Maryland	$105.24	137

See also

• List of regions of the United States

Bibliography

• Bodle, Wayne, "The Mid-Atlantic and the American Revolution", Pennsylvania History 82 (Summer 2015), 282–99.
• Heineman, Kenneth J., "The Only Things You Will Find in the Middle of the Road are Double Yellow Lines, Dead Frogs, and Electoral Leverage: Mid-Atlantic Political Culture and Influence across the Centuries", Pennsylvania History, 82 (Summer 2015), 300–13.
• Landsman, Ned C. Crossroads of Empire: The Middle Colonies in British North America (2010)
• Longhurst, James. "'Typically American': Trends in the History of Environmental Politics and Policy in the Mid-Atlantic Region". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 79.4 (2012): 409–427.
• Magoc, Chris J., "In Search of a Useable—and Hopeful—Environmental Narrative in the Mid-Atlantic", Pennsylvania History, 82 (Summer 2015), 314–28.
• Mancall, Peter C., Joshua L. Rosenbloom, and Thomas Weiss. "Exports from the Colonies and States of the Middle Atlantic Region 1720–1800". Research in Economic History 29 (2013): 257–305.
• Marzec, Robert. The Mid-Atlantic Region: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures (2004)
• Richter, Daniel K, "Mid-Atlantic Colonies, R.I.P.", Pennsylvania History, 82 (Summer 2015), 257–81.
• Rosenbloom, Joshua L., and Thomas Weiss. "Economic growth in the Mid-Atlantic region: Conjectural estimates for 1720 to 1800". Explorations in Economic History 51 (2014): 41–59.