Middle Atlantic States

The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the eastern part of the country. Traditional definitions include seven U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well as the national capital of Washington, D.C. Depending on various factors, different regional divisions exist: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in its newest regional division excludes New York from the region; the U.S. Census Bureau excludes Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia from the region; USGS defines the region by watersheds, thus additionally including North Carolina; the EPA excludes both New York and New Jersey; the U.S. Maritime Administration excludes upper New Jersey and New York; the Office of Small Business Programs of the U.S. Department of Defense excludes New York. Connecticut is sometimes included in the Mid-Atlantic region in climatological discussions because southern and coastal portions of the state have a humid subtropical climate and form a transition zone between the climates of New England and the Mid-Atlantic. The Mid-Atlantic region played an instrumental and historic role in the nation's founding and development. Six of the seven states were among the Thirteen Colonies represented at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, where delegates unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence and established 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. As of the 2020 census, the region had a population of 60,783,913, representing slightly over 18% of the nation's population. 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 Northeast Corridor and Interstate 95 connect the region's major cities and suburbs, forming the Northeast megalopolis, one of the world's most important centers of finance, media, communications, education, medicine, and technology.