INCOME DENSITY IN THE UNITED STATES∗

∗ I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council in the preparation of this paper.

ABSTRACT

Most regional subdivisions of the United States have used one of three unsatisfactory approaches: physiographic, agricultural, or census blocks of states. Any economic subdivision of the United States must recognize that the entire conterminous territory is one economic unit. The census income figure is the most satisfactory statistic available to indicate an aggregation of all forms of economic productivity. Income density (income per square mile) for every county in the conterminous United States suggests the location of divides between the two parts of the ecumene, and the nonecumene, and the areal patterns of relatively high and low productivity.

KEY WORDS:

• Ecumene
• Income Density
• Regionalization
• United States

Notes

∗ I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council in the preparation of this paper.