Hartville, Missouri – It’s not every day that the small hamlet of Ozarks, Missouri, is in the middle of it all, but that was the case in tiny Wright County when state capital officials released a marker Wednesday designating its location. center of the US population.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Census Bureau officials celebrated the debut of the red granite marker in Hartville, including the agency’s director, Robert Santos. With a population of 594 in 2020, the county seat is 14.6 miles (23.5 km) from the actual location calculated according to the following formula: 2020 Census.
At the ceremony, Santos told local officials, “You will be famous for this wonderful designation for the rest of the history of this country. And you will have bragging rights for this decade.” not bad.”
Hartville does not have a large tax base or a large industry because interstate highways and railroads are bypassed. Local schools, nursing homes, gas stations and the Dollar General Store are the biggest employers.
A country’s population center is calculated every decade after the 10-year census shows where people live. Since 1980, the heart of America has been in Missouri. Previously located in the neighboring county of Plato, southwest he moved only 11.8 miles (19 kilometers) from 2010 to 2020. This is the smallest distance traveled in 100 years and the second smallest distance traveled. in US history.
To calculate the center of the United States, the Census Bureau determined which point would be the “balance point” if the 50 states were on an imaginary plane on which weights of the same size (each representing the location of one person) were placed. ” will be calculated. that.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/politics/2022/09/21/marker-in-tiny-missouri-hamlet-denotes-us-population-center/ A small settlement marker in Missouri shows a densely populated area in the United States