Birthplaces of U.S. presidents as of July 2026

[iheartthed]

It's been 250 years since the United States of America declared independence from Great Britain. Since then a total of 45 people have become president of the United States (as of July 1, 2026). As such, I thought it would be fun to see which "metro areas" produced the most presidents.

For the purpose of this exercise a "metro area" means the loosest official definition of an urban area or urban relationship. So, in most cases, the aggregate count is rolled up to the CSA. What this means is that Theodore Roosevelt, born in New York City, is counted as being from the same "metro area" as his cousin Franklin Roosevelt, who was born in Dutchess County which is located outside of the NYC MSA but within the NYC CSA.

If a president was born in a location that is not part of a CSA but is located in an MSA then I aggregated according to the MSA. Birthplaces that were not located in either a CSA or MSA were mostly counted as "none". The single exception to that rule is Virginia's Northern Neck region, which was birthplace to several presidents. While the Northern Neck is located just outside of the current boundaries of the Washington-Baltimore CSA, I included these birthplaces to the count for Washington-Baltimore.

#.......Birthplace region
6……….none | Chester A. Arthur, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton
5……….Boston CSA | John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Franklin Pierce, John F. Kennedy, George H.W. Bush
5……….Washington-Baltimore CSA | George Washington, James Madison, James Monroe, Zachary Taylor, James Buchanan
4……….New York CSA | Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Donald Trump
3……….Cincinnati CSA | Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harris, William Howard Taft
2……….Charlotte CSA | Andrew Jackson, James Polk
2……….Columbus, OH CSA | Rutherford B. Hayes, Warren G. Harding
2……….Richmond, VA CSA | William Henry Harrison, John Tyler
1……….Albany, NY CSA | Martin Van Buren
1……….Charlottesville, VA MSA | Thomas Jefferson
1……….Cleveland CSA | James Garfield)
1……….Dallas CSA | Dwight Eisenhower
1……….Dixon-Sterling, IL CSA | Ronald Reagan
1……….Honolulu MSA | Barack Obama
1……….Iowa City MSA | Herbert Hoover
1……….Los Angeles CSA | Richard Nixon
1……….Louisville CSA | Abraham Lincoln
1……….New Haven, CT CSA | George W. Bush
1……….Omaha, NE MSA | Gerald Ford
1……….Raleigh, NC CSA | Andrew Johnson
1……….Scranton, PA CSA | Joe Biden
1……….Staunton–Stuarts Draft, VA MSA | Woodrow Wilson
1……….Syracuse, NY CSA | Millard Fillmore
1……….Youngstown, OH CSA | William McKinley

[iheartthed]

Ohio really punches above its weight. Each of Ohio's three Cs regions were birthplaces of at least once president. Virginia is the only state that was birthplace of more presidents than Ohio.

[Crawford]

I believe Ohio was the third most populous state for decades. Ohio filled out pretty early.

[Steely Dan]

The idea that Dixon, IL is a part of anything resembling an actual MSA or CSA is hilarious.

It is the freaking dictionary definition of small town Illinois.

[xzmattzx]

It's Harrison, not Harris.

"Loose" is correct, because James Buchanan was born in the mountains west of Mercersburg, PA, which is well northwest of Hagerstown, MD, but the county is in the Baltimore CSA, so halfway to Pittsburgh counts as the Baltimore CSA.

[Docere]

Lincoln was born in a log cabin in "suburban" Louisville.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by Docere

Lincoln was born in a log cabin in "suburban" Louisville.

I didnt know that, very cool.

[Crawford]

The obvious issue is that in most non-recent cases the jurisdiction was not really part of any type of metro area, even if growth, suburbanization and Census definitions have changed things.

[ColDayMan]

It is correct that Ohio was the third largest state at the time churning out those presidents, behind New York and Pennsylvania. What always gets me is how Pennsylvania, one of the most important states in the 1800's, only produced two presidents: James Buchanan and Joe Biden. I would've assumed it would've been near Ohio/Virginia/New York in count but apparently not.

[Docere]

Between 1830 and 1940 Pennsylvania was the second most populous state.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

It is correct that Ohio was the third largest state at the time churning out those presidents, behind New York and Pennsylvania. What always gets me is how Pennsylvania, one of the most important states in the 1800's, only produced two presidents: James Buchanan and Joe Biden. I would've assumed it would've been near Ohio/Virginia/New York in count but apparently not.

I think the craziest thing is how little California has played in not just elected presidents but presidential nominees. In 2024, Kamala Harris was the first Democratic nominee from California.

Only one president, Richard Nixon, was born in California.

[jmecklenborg]

What's kind of crazy is that before he ran for U.S. Senate, current VP JD Vance bought a house on William H Taft Dr., just 2-3 blocks away from Taft's house.

Here is Taft's house (the renovation pictured here was completed in 2025 and the house is now occupied):
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1763-E-McMillan-St-Cincinnati-OH-45206/34220077_zpid/?

Here is Vance's, just 1,000 or so feet away:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1858-William-H-Taft-Rd-Cincinnati-OH-45206/34218299_zpid/

So if Vance is elected, Ohio will get its first President in many years. Vivek Ramaswamy is also going to run for President again, whenever Vance is out of the picture. He's running for Governor of Ohio right now.

[woodrow]

Truman was 6 when his family moved to Independence Missouri, which is part of the KC Metro area. It is actually older than KC and the two border each other. Not his birthplace but formative.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

It is correct that Ohio was the third largest state at the time churning out those presidents, behind New York and Pennsylvania. What always gets me is how Pennsylvania, one of the most important states in the 1800's, only produced two presidents: James Buchanan and Joe Biden. I would've assumed it would've been near Ohio/Virginia/New York in count but apparently not.

Ohio having produced so many presidents had a lot to do with the Civil War. Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant was the first president from Ohio and six of the 12 presidents that followed him in office were, like him, Republicans from Ohio.

Ohio was a bellwether after the Civil War era because it had cultural overlap from northern and southern regions. Winning the presidency meant winning Ohio. The presidents elected from Ohio were all post-Civil War Republicans, with the last one being Warren G. Harding near the end of the Progressive Era. Nearly all of the presidents elected between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Great Depression were Republicans from the North. A few years after Harding died in office the long string of post-Civil War Republican presidencies ended with Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression.

[Docere]

I didn't realize there were micropolitan CSAs.

Dixon-Sterling IL

Population: 88,201
Density: 62.6 per square mile

[wwmiv]

For the 6 without a modern city proper/metro including their place of birth, where I’d place them given the whole context of their lives:

• Chester A. Arthur — born in rural Vermont (left by age 1), raised/educated in now-Albany metro, excepting the presidency, lived in New York City proper for the duration of his adult life; VERDICT: New York City

• Calvin Coolidge — born, raised, educated, and lived in rural Vermont and Massachusetts, only lived in Boston and D.C. propers while serving in office; VERDICT: rural

• Harry Truman — noted above in another reply: born in rural Missouri, raised/educated/lived in now-metro K.C.; VERDICT: Kansas City

• Lyndon Johnson — born in rural Texas, educated in now-metro Austin, short professional stint in Houston proper, and then D.C. proper for the vast majority of the rest of his life (excepting the few years he had after the presidency to retire at his ranch in the Hill Country); VERDICT: Washington, D.C.

• Jimmy Carter — born, raised, educated in rural Georgia (with stints in Atlanta and Annapolis propers), militarily stationed across the country, politically served in Atlanta and D.C. propers, and returned to rural Georgia after the presidency with STRONG Atlanta presence;
VERDICT: Atlanta

• Bill Clinton — born and raised in rural Arkansas, educated in D.C., Oxford (England), and New Haven, CT, (all city propers), worked in Fayetteville proper, politically served in Little Rock and D.C. propers, and now lives in now-metro NYC (albeit the most rural corner of the metro); VERDICT: New York City

Many of the other presidents in the full list have only tangential attachment to their place of birth, too, and have more connection to another place entirely. Eisenhower is a great example.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

For the 6 without a modern city proper/metro including their place of birth, where I’d place them given the whole context of their lives:

• Chester A. Arthur — born in rural Vermont (left by age 1), raised/educated in now-Albany metro, excepting the presidency, lived in New York City proper for the duration of his adult life; VERDICT: New York City

• Calvin Coolidge — born, raised, educated, and lived in rural Vermont and Massachusetts, only lived in Boston and D.C. propers while serving in office; VERDICT: rural

• Harry Truman — noted above in another reply: born in rural Missouri, raised/educated/lived in now-metro K.C.; VERDICT: Kansas City

• Lyndon Johnson — born in rural Texas, educated in now-metro Austin, short professional stint in Houston proper, and then D.C. proper for the vast majority of the rest of his life (excepting the few years he had after the presidency to retire at his ranch in the Hill Country); VERDICT: Washington, D.C.

• Jimmy Carter — born, raised, educated in rural Georgia (with stints in Atlanta and Annapolis propers), militarily stationed across the country, politically served in Atlanta and D.C. propers, and returned to rural Georgia after the presidency with STRONG Atlanta presence;
VERDICT: Atlanta

• Bill Clinton — born and raised in rural Arkansas, educated in D.C., Oxford (England), and New Haven, CT, (all city propers), worked in Fayetteville proper, politically served in Little Rock and D.C. propers, and now lives in now-metro NYC (albeit the most rural corner of the metro); VERDICT: New York City

Many of the other presidents in the full list have only tangential attachment to their place of birth, too, and have more connection to another place entirely. Eisenhower is a great example.

There is much less attachment to place of birth since the country industrialized, particularly for those presidents with rural birth places. The Civil War flipped the balance of power firmly away from the agriculturalists to the industrialists. Since then there has been no viable path to the presidency for a person who didn't spend a significant portion of their adult lives in an urban area. Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were firmly of the places where they were born, though. Instead I would argue that presidents like George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, or Joe Biden are examples of presidents were not really of the places they were born.

ETA: LBJ almost met the criteria for Austin. His birthplace is in a county adjacent to the Austin metro and it will probably become part of either an Austin MSA or CSA in coming decades. But I only broke that exception for the Northern Neck Virginians in regards to Washington, D.C.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Docere

I didn't realize there were micropolitan CSAs.

Dixon-Sterling IL

Population: 88,201
Density: 62.6 per square mile

CB county mash-up silliness. Whadaya gonna do.....


Dixon is a hard-core cornbelt town. There is absolutely nothing "metropolitan" about Ronald Reagan's place of birth, then or now or ever.

[Docere]

The population of Tampico has been around 700-800 from the time of Reagan's birth until today.

[JManc]

I would not associate Bill Clinton with NYC by any stretch of the imagination other living in the vicinity post presidency.