And yes, as an old / dated statistic, a 30 - 100 mile radius might have worked further back.
Truth is that population centers are highly concentrated within the US (and the world).
A set of visualizations I've collected showing density as cartograms or height relief: http://imgur.com/a/JgtVp#0
The height map in particular shows the concentration by MSA, and the population density of the eastern US: http://i.imgur.com/NjeWb3a.png
Incidentally, I'd always thought it was 2/3 of the US population east of the Mississippi. Yep.
Adding up: ca: 37.2, or: 3.8, wa: 7.0, id: 1.6, mn: 1.0, nv: 2.8, az: 6.6, ut: 2.9, wy: 0.6, co: 5.3, nm: 2.0, tx: 26.4, nd: 0.7, sd: 0.8, nb: 1.9, ks: 2.9, ok: 3.8, mn: 5.4, ia: 3.1, mo: 6.0, ar: 3.0, la: 4.6, ak: 0.7, hi: 1.4
We get 131.5 million. US pop: 313m
Via bc:
100 * (131.5/313) 42.000
Knock off Texas and you're there: 105m, or 33.546% of the US population.
Last I checked, most of Texas was more than 30 miles from US I-5. Or even more than five miles.
Using 2010 census numbers from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_state_population, rounded to nearest 100k.
And yes, as an old / dated statistic, a 30 - 100 mile radius might have worked further back.
Truth is that population centers are highly concentrated within the US (and the world).
A set of visualizations I've collected showing density as cartograms or height relief: http://imgur.com/a/JgtVp#0
The height map in particular shows the concentration by MSA, and the population density of the eastern US: http://i.imgur.com/NjeWb3a.png
Incidentally, I'd always thought it was 2/3 of the US population east of the Mississippi. Yep.
Adding up: ca: 37.2, or: 3.8, wa: 7.0, id: 1.6, mn: 1.0, nv: 2.8, az: 6.6, ut: 2.9, wy: 0.6, co: 5.3, nm: 2.0, tx: 26.4, nd: 0.7, sd: 0.8, nb: 1.9, ks: 2.9, ok: 3.8, mn: 5.4, ia: 3.1, mo: 6.0, ar: 3.0, la: 4.6, ak: 0.7, hi: 1.4
We get 131.5 million. US pop: 313m
Via bc:
Leaving 58% on the east. Not quite 2/3, but close.Knock off Texas and you're there: 105m, or 33.546% of the US population.
Last I checked, most of Texas was more than 30 miles from US I-5. Or even more than five miles.
Using 2010 census numbers from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_state_population, rounded to nearest 100k.