This is easily answered. The North and the West far outpaced the South, but between those two it was a narrow race, with the West coming out on top. For example, Illinois increased from 851,000 to 1,711,000, the largest single increase of any state. Wisconsin more than doubled, growing from 305,000 to 775,000. And Iowa had the most spectacular growth in relative terms: the Hawkeye State went from 192,000 to 674,000.

The industrial North did fine, too. The Empire State increased from 3,097,000 to 3,880,000, and Pennsylvania rose from 2,311,000 to 2,906,000. No state in the Union decreased in population, although Vermont was very close, increasing only from 314,000 to 315,000. When one examines the census results, the North and the West were the clear winners, but the Far West did well too. California rose from 92,000 to 379,000, and Oregon increased from an uncounted figure in 1850 to 52,000 in 1860.