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In 2010, the percentage of the population living in a county with a coastline was comparable to what it was between 1790 and 1800, when the U.S. still relied heavily on trade with European markets and access to interior lands was limited. In the intervening decades, the percentage of the population living in coastline counties decreased to an all-time low in 1880. A steady increase led to a recent peak in 1990, and a slight decrease since then has led to 2010's level.

SOURCE: Decennial censuses 1790 to 2010

NOTE: Counties are based on 2010 geography and historical populations are based on population estimates derived from decennial census data. Point locations are based on population-weighted county centroids. Values in the data table have been rounded to the nearest thousand. The graph showing the percentage of the population living in a coastline county in each decade is based on unrounded figures.