Table 1.6  U.S. Population Density, 1960-1998

  Total Counties in coastal regions Interior
  United   Gulf of   Great of
Year States Pacific Mexico Atlantic Lakes U.S.
             
  Land area, in thousands of square miles
             
1994 3,536.3 509.9 114.5 147.8 115.4 2,648.7
             
  Population, in millions
             
1960 179.3 17.9 8.4 44.5 23.7 84.8
1970 203.3 22.8 10.0 51.1 26.0 93.3
1980 226.5 27.0 13.1 53.7 26.0 106.7
1990 248.7 33.2 15.2 59.0 25.9 115.3
1995 262.8 35.2 16.5 61.0 26.5 123.5
1997 270.2 36.5 17.1 62.3 26.8 127.5
             
  Population per square mile
             
1960 50.7 35.1 73.4 301.1 205.4 32.0
1970 57.5 44.7 87.3 345.7 225.3 35.2
1980 64.0 53.0 114.4 363.3 225.6 40.3
1990 70.3 65.1 136.2 399.2 224.8 43.5
1995 74.3 69.0 144.1 412.7 229.6 46.6
1997 76.4 71.6 149.3 421.5 232.2 48.1

Sources:  U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1996 (GPO, Washington, DC, 1996).

--. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1999 (GPO, Washington, DC, 1999).

Notes:  Coastal area includes 672 counties and independent cities with at least 15 percent of their land area either in a coastal watershed or in a coastal cataloging unit defined in 1992 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Last Updated on Thursday, April 20, 2000