Upper Midwest | |
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 Map of the United States with the Upper Midwest highlighted (as defined by the National Weather Service) | |
| Demonym | Upper Midwesterner |
TheUpper Midwest is a northern subregion of theU.S. Census Bureau'sMidwestern United States. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed upon, the region is usually defined to include the states ofIowa,Michigan,Minnesota andWisconsin; some definitions includeNorth Dakota,South Dakota, and parts ofNebraska andIllinois.
TheNational Centers for Environmental Information considers the Upper Midwest climate region to include Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.[1]
TheUnited States Geological Survey uses two different Upper Midwest regions:
The Association for Institutional Research in the Upper Midwest includes the states of Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan in the region.[3] According to theLibrary of Congress, the Upper Midwest includes the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.[4]
The region has dramatic variations between summer and winter temperatures; summers are hot; and winters are very cold. For example,Sioux Falls averages 25 days each year with temperatures above 90 °F (32 °C) and 45 days each year with temperatures below 5 °F (−15 °C).[5]Mitchell, South Dakota has a record high of 116 °F (47 °C) and a record low of −39 °F (−39 °C).[6]
The growing season is shorter, cooler and drier in areas farther north and west. The region's western boundary is sometimes considered to be determined by where the climate becomes too dry to support growing non-irrigated crops other than small grains or hay grass.[citation needed]
TheInland North dialect, most prominently characterized by theNorthern Cities Vowel Shift, is centered in the eastern part of the Upper Midwest, including Wisconsin, Michigan and the northern parts of Illinois and Ohio; it extends beyond the Midwest intoCentral andWestern New York.North Central American English (also known as "Upper Midwestern"[7]), is spoken in Minnesota, parts of Wisconsin and Iowa, theUpper Peninsula of Michigan, portions ofMontana andthe Dakotas.[8]
The Upper Midwest in the 20th-century was dominated by theRepublican Party and was the heartland of the earlyProgressive movement, the region supportingTheodore Roosevelt'sBull Moose party andRobert La Follette'sProgressive party. The region continues to be favorable to theDemocratic Party and moderate Republicans, with Minnesota favoring each Democratic presidential candidate since 1976 and Wisconsin from 1988 to 2012 (and again in 2020). Minnesota narrowly supported nativeWalter Mondale in1984 in an election whereRonald Reagan won every other state. Michigan and Illinois also often favor Democratic candidates. However, beginning with the2010 midterm elections, Republicans experienced substantial gains in state legislative and executive offices in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.[9][10][11] This trend continued through 2016.[12][10][11] From 2018, Democrats regained some control of the region. Upper Midwest states closest to the Great Lakes favor Democrats, and Democratic state trifecta governments formed in Minnesota and Michigan in 2022, though both were broken in 2024. Great Plains states in the region continue to favor Republicans, with GOP state trifecta governments in the Dakota's and Iowa.[13] In 2023, the region had three Democratic governors (in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin) and three Republican governors (in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa).
In the2020 presidential election, DemocratJoe Biden won the electoral votes of theBlue Wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. RepublicanDonald Trump won the electoral votes of Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota.[14]
Every American state elects twoU.S. senators to a six-year term. After theNovember 2020 election, Minnesota and Michigan had twoDemocratic senators, while North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa had twoRepublican senators. Wisconsin is the only state in the Upper Midwest that has elected one Republican and one Democratic senator.
The economy of the region was largely based upon the mining of iron and copper, as well as a very large timber industry. Mechanization has sharply reduced employment in those areas, and the economy is increasingly based on tourism. Popular interest in the environment and environmentalism, added to traditional interests in hunting and fishing, has attracted a large urban audience who live within driving range.[15]
TheUSDA reported that corn,soybean,sunflower andsugar beet crops sawharvest gains in 2018, but were still below the five-year averages. In North Dakota, for example, 49% of corn was harvested by November 4 compared with the five-year average of 97%. This was in part due to weather conditions in October that affected the harvest.[16]
