Which of these states do you consider Southern?

[TDAS04]

?

[TDAS04]

How can Texas not be Southern?

I agree, but many Texans don't like being called anything but "Texan."  They like their distinctiveness.

[TDAS04]

What does "West Virginia is literally in the South" mean?  Wheeling is literally in West Virginia because states have definite boundaries.  It's okay to debate the boundaries of regions such as "the South" or "the Midwest."

Sure, there are some somewhat official regional groupings used by government agencies for statistical purposes.  But the Census and the BEA have different definitions.  They can't both be correct, can they?  Or maybe neither is absolutely correct.  It doesn't make sense to use one to the end of discussion.  There is no governing body for "the South," whatever that is.  So it's okay to discuss what region a state fits into, or even to suggest one part of a state is different region from another part.  South Dakota is a Midwesterrn state overall, but I could say I'm in "the West" when I'm in the Black Hills.  Even though sometimes regional boundaries need to stop at state lines in certain situations, I am not wrong to say I'm in the West when I'm in Deadwood, and it's fine for people to have differing opinions on regional definitions.