IllinoisEast North Central. The capital is Springfield. Chicago is the most populous city of the state and of the whole Midwest. Admitted as the 21st state on December 3, 1818. The town of Cairo stands at its southern tip.
IndianaEast North Central. The capital is Indianapolis, also its most populous city. Admitted as the 19th state on December 11, 1816. It is the smallest of the 12 Midwest states by area. The Wabash River forms part of its border with Illinois.
MichiganEast North Central. The capital is Lansing. Detroit is the most populous city. Admitted as the 26th state on January 26, 1837. The Mackinac Bridge, 5 miles long, links its two peninsulas across the Straits of Mackinac.
OhioEast North Central. The capital is Columbus, also its most populous city. It is counted as the 17th state, with the date March 1, 1803, which Congress set in 1953. It was the first state admitted under the Northwest Ordinance.
WisconsinEast North Central. The capital is Madison. Milwaukee is the most populous city. Admitted as the 30th state on May 29, 1848. The thumb on its east side is the Door Peninsula, which separates Green Bay from Lake Michigan.
West North Central 7
IowaWest North Central. The capital is Des Moines, its most populous city. Admitted as the 29th state on December 28, 1846. Six states touch it. No other state has east and west borders formed almost entirely by rivers.
KansasWest North Central. The capital is Topeka. Wichita is the most populous city. Admitted as the 34th state on January 29, 1861. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is in Smith County, near the town of Lebanon.
MinnesotaWest North Central. The capital is Saint Paul. Minneapolis is the most populous city. Admitted as the 32nd state on May 11, 1858. The Mississippi River begins here, at Lake Itasca. Its Northwest Angle lies north of the 49th parallel.
MissouriWest North Central. The capital is Jefferson City. Kansas City is the most populous city. Admitted as the 24th state on August 10, 1821. It touches eight states, a count only Tennessee matches.
NebraskaWest North Central. The capital is Lincoln. Omaha is the most populous city. Admitted as the 37th state on March 1, 1867. Since 1937 its legislature has had a single house. It is the only triply landlocked state.
North DakotaWest North Central. The capital is Bismarck. Fargo is the most populous city. Admitted on November 2, 1889, the same day as South Dakota, and counted as the 39th state because it comes first in the alphabet.
South DakotaWest North Central. The capital is Pierre. Sioux Falls is the most populous city. Admitted as the 40th state on November 2, 1889. The Missouri River splits it into East River and West River. Mount Rushmore is in its southwest.
How this list was compiled: State list and the two divisions: U.S. Census Bureau, Census Regions and Divisions of the United States, https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf, checked 2026-09-19 (Region 2 Midwest: Division 3 East North Central, Division 4 West North Central; a footnote says the region was designated the North Central Region before June 1984). Order and dates of admission, and the notes on Ohio, North Dakota and South Dakota: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_date_of_admission_to_the_Union, checked 2026-09-19. Capitals and most populous cities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_capitals_in_the_United_States, checked 2026-09-19. Borders, lakes, rivers and the last fact in each detail line: the Wikipedia articles on each of the twelve states, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door_Peninsula, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Angle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_of_the_North, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_River and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area, checked 2026-09-19. The region and its names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States, checked 2026-09-19. Hints and detail lines written for this site. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site from U.S. Census Bureau 2023 cartographic boundary file cb_2023_us_state_5m (scale 1:5,000,000), https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2023/shp/cb_2023_us_state_5m.zip, downloaded 2026-09-19. Surrounding land from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_admin_0_countries_lakes (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_0_countries_lakes.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Albers equal-area conic projection, central meridian 91.7°W, standard parallels 38.2°N and 47.2°N. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (work of the United States government, 17 U.S.C. 105): https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2023/TGRSHP2023_TechDoc_Ch1.pdf; public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)
How it works
This midwest states quiz draws the 12 states from Ohio to the Dakotas on one large map, with the Great Lakes as open water. It asks one state at a time: all 12, the 5 East North Central states, or the 7 West North Central. The map prints blank or labeled.
Read the full guide
Twelve states in two Census divisions
This midwest map quiz follows the U.S. Census Bureau, whose Midwest region has 12 states in two divisions. East North Central is five states, each with a Great Lakes shore: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. West North Central is the seven to their west: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. Before June 1984 the Bureau called the whole region North Central.
One state at a time
Find it shows a state name, and you tap where it is. Miss, and the right state lights up. Miss three states, and Practise the 3 you missed asks them again. In Name it a state lights up, and you choose from a few names or type your answer. Study writes all 12 names on the map. East North Central, under Start from, cuts the round to 5 states and West North Central to 7, and the map zooms to the group.
Read the west column from the top: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas. Nebraska is the one with the panhandle, and Kansas is the near rectangle.
Iowa, Illinois and Indiana blur together by name. Iowa is west of the Mississippi River, Illinois is just east of it, and Indiana is the narrow one beside Ohio.
Michigan comes in two pieces, and the lower piece is the mitten. Wisconsin faces the mitten across Lake Michigan and has a thumb of its own.
Questions and answers
Can I race the clock?
No. A round has no clock: the end card shows how many of the 12 you got right, then practises the ones you missed.
Can I print it for a class?
Yes. Print blank gives the map with the states numbered 1 to 12 and a line for each answer. Print labelled is the same map with every name written in. Together they make a midwest states quiz printable with its own key.
Why is Kentucky not on this quiz?
The Census Bureau puts Kentucky in the South, along with West Virginia and Oklahoma, and it puts Pennsylvania in the Northeast. They appear here as plain land with no name. Missouri, next door to Kentucky, counts as Midwest and is asked here.