Middle Westerner

A Middle Westerner is a person who lives in or who is from the Midwest—the northern central area of the mainland United States.

The word Midwesterner is much more commonly used to mean the same thing. Middle Westerner is based on the term Middle West, a less common term for the Midwest.

Generally, the boundaries of the Midwest are Canada to the north, the Rocky Mountains to the west, the southern borders of Missouri and Kansas to the south, and the Allegheny Mountains to the east. Sometimes the Midwest is thought of as extending to the eastern border of Illinois or Ohio.

The Midwest is one of the United States’ four official regions as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Because the Census Bureau doesn’t divide states when defining regions, it sets Ohio as the Midwest’s eastern border. According to the Census, 12 states are located within the Midwest: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

Americans themselves often differ in terms of who exactly they consider to be a Midwesterner. Sometimes, people from states on the fringes, such as Ohio or North Dakota, aren’t considered to be from the Midwest.

Example: As a native Midwesterner, I would never call myself a “Middle Westerner.”

The first records of the term Middle Westerner referring to a person from the northern central area of the United States come from right around 1900. Although the Midwestern states are really in the northern central area of the country, the word west indicates their position in relation to the East Coast (the location of the original 13 U.S. colonies).

The term Midwesterner is used both by people from the Midwest who identify themselves as such as well as those from other regions of the country. As is the case for people from other regions, being a Midwesterner is associated with certain values, tastes, and ways of life. Of course, it’s a very big region, so Midwesterners have all kinds of different backgrounds. One thing that most of them have in common, thought, is that they probably aren’t likely to call themselves Middle Westerners.

What are some other forms related to Middle Westerner?

• Middle Western (adjective)
• Middle West (noun)

What are some synonyms for Middle Westerner?

• Midwesterner

What are some words that share a root or word element with Middle Westerner? 

• middle
• Westerner
• Southerner
• Northeasterner

What are some words that often get used in discussing Middle Westerner?

• native
• state
• region
• central
• United States
• rural
• farmland
• heartland
• breadbasket

Americans use the term Midwesterner to refer to people who live in or are from the north-central region of the country, and Midwesterners commonly used it to identify themselves. Middle Westerner is used in the same way, but much less commonly.

Middle Westerner at heart

— Karl Kirkwood (@truthfromduluth) March 25, 2020

Just finished Great Gatsby. As a Middle Westerner, it resonated in ways I did not expect.

— Jenny Stromer-Galley (@profjsg) May 1, 2013

…and so begins another clash that has plagued generation upon generation of middle westerners – donuts or bagels?

— Gooner (@Break_Beets) April 29, 2014

True or False?

A person who lives in Illinois could be called a Middle Westerner.