Is Ohio more similar to Iowa or New Jersey?

[TDAS04]

?

[Progressive Pessimist]

Interesting comparison there...and I've never been to Ohio, so I can't say firsthand.

Certainly Ohio has big suburban and city metros like New Jersey, but New Jersey isn't as rural.

[TDAS04]

Interesting comparison there...and I've never been to Ohio, so I can't say firsthand.

Certainly Ohio has big suburban and city metros like New Jersey, but New Jersey isn't as rural.

But Ohio is considerably more urban than Iowa, and probably one of the most densely populated states outside the Northeast.

[LabourJersey]

Interesting comparison there...and I've never been to Ohio, so I can't say firsthand.

Certainly Ohio has big suburban and city metros like New Jersey, but New Jersey isn't as rural.

But Ohio is considerably more urban than Iowa, and probably one of the most densely populated states outside the Northeast.

Surprisingly the most densely populated state outside the Northeast is Florida, but after that it is Ohio.

[Dan the Roman]

Ohio's smaller cities are much closer to Iowa's than New Jersey's which have seen 20% GOP swings. New Jersey's either had large non white populations or were suburbs/exurbs of NYC. Ohio/Iowa ones are largely white, post industrial. In the latter the Democrats have largely ceased to exist whether it be in Iowa/Ohio or Maine/New Hampshire.

[politicallefty]

Interesting comparison there...and I've never been to Ohio, so I can't say firsthand.

Certainly Ohio has big suburban and city metros like New Jersey, but New Jersey isn't as rural.

But Ohio is considerably more urban than Iowa, and probably one of the most densely populated states outside the Northeast.

Surprisingly the most densely populated state outside the Northeast is Florida, but after that it is Ohio.

I actually looked at the list and was surprised to see PA and OH at 9th and 10th in density (interestingly, California is just behind, at 11th place), respectively, and both extremely close together too. (OH is about 50k short of surpassing PA on density.) Ohio has about 5x the density of Iowa, but is about 4x less dense than NJ (which is 20% above #2 Rhode Island, which itself is well-above #3 MA). The rural areas of Ohio probably have a lot more in common with Iowa, but I don't think the same is really true of the urban areas. Cleveland itself has a satellite city (Akron) that is comparable in population to the largest city in Iowa (Des Moines) and Cleveland itself is a shell of what it was decades ago.

[Padfoot]

By population numbers and community type (rural, suburban, urban) I would say New Jersey is a closer match since Ohio is much more of an urban/suburban state. Our suburbs are just significantly more conservative than New Jersey's.

Interestingly, Ohio and New Jersey seem to have had a fairly similar number of Democratic voters in the last two presidential elections. We just had way more Republican voters.

[politicallefty]

By population numbers and community type (rural, suburban, urban) I would say New Jersey is a closer match since Ohio is much more of an urban/suburban state. Our suburbs are just significantly more conservative than New Jersey's.

Interestingly, Ohio and New Jersey seem to have had a fairly similar number of Democratic voters in the last two presidential elections. We just had way more Republican voters.

I don't disagree with you and it's also why I don't like the characterization of the Midwest region. Ohio does seem to be around the convergence point of a couple regions. The Northeast is definitely Great Lakes and Rust Belt, but also seems to have some certain Eastern characteristics that differ from the rest of the state. The SW and SE parts of the state have some Southern and Appalachian influence. The Central and Western parts of the state are definitely some of the most Midwestern.

Historically speaking, it makes sense that there is heavy eastern influcence in Ohio. For a very long time, you had the belt of states of NY, PA, and OH as the three biggest states in the country. New York was on top from 1810-1970. Except for the 1810 Census, PA was second from 1790-1950. Ohio appeared on the top 5 in 1820 and didn't drop off until 1970 (spending most of the time in 3rd or 4th place).

[RI]

For these comparisons, it's much better to use population-weighted density. By this measure, NJ is the 3rd most dense state, CA is the 4th most dense, OH is 24th, and IA is 36th. Iowa is clearly closer than New Jersey.