Over the weekend, Colorado Governor Jared Polis shared a map of the country, stating that Colorado is indeed a ‘western’ state, not part of America’s ‘midwest.’ The claim sparked a lively debate, bringing to light just how controversial that statement is.

So locals must be asked – is Colorado part of the American West, the Midwest, or something in between?

After all, Denver is about 1,000 miles from the West Coast. To put that in perspective, that’s close to the same distance from a coastline as Kansas City (which is about 1,050 miles from the East Coast).

The most official ‘Midwest’ definition comes from the United States Census Bureau, which includes 12 states in this region – not including Colorado. What region is Colorado in, then? The Census Bureau says it’s in the ‘West,’ but it’s not quite that simple.

The Census Bureau splits the ‘West’ into two distinct sub-regions – the Pacific West and the Mountain West, with Colorado joining Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico, Montana, Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming in the latter group.

So there you have it – Colorado is indeed a ‘western state,’ but it’s part of the ‘Mountain West.’

As someone who has spent a significant portion of my life in both the Midwest and in Colorado, it’s true the several aspects of the ‘Midwest’ are present in the Centennial State. Colorado locals indeed seem to exude a level of Midwestern friendliness, Coloradans seem to love their comfort food, and until recently, local politics at the state level seemed to be a bit more ambiguous, sometimes skewing to be more similar to those found in the American Midwest. Meanwhile, Coloradans seem to value an active lifestyle that tends to be found in many western states, with a big focus on the stunning landscape found in the area.

Perhaps Colorado is best described as the place ‘where the Midwest meets the mountains,’ a blend of Midwestern and Western traits the make the state so easy for many to love.

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