What Is the Width of the United States?

Angus MacRae/CC-BY 2.0

The United States has a horizontal width of approximately 2,680 miles and a vertical distance of 1,582 miles. Of the country’s states, Alaska is the northernmost, westernmost and the easternmost while Hawaii is located farthest to the south. The center of the continental U.S. lies in Nebraska, but moves to South Dakota with the inclusion of Alaska and Hawaii.

The total land area of the U.S., which includes all 50 states, covers a distance of more than 3 million miles. The U.S. also has a considerable amount of waterfront, with its coastlines covering a distance of 181,274 square miles. These coastlines include the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.