The region hosted the first permanent European settlement in North America, with the Kingdom of England establishing Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.

The Southeast started to see a spur of new economic growth in the 1930s, which stemmed from New Deal policies such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Fair Labor Standards Act instituting a minimum wage for the entire nation.

With farming mechanization picking up to speed in the 1940s, promotion of different industries, and federal spending on defense and space programs, the Southeast saw further economic transformation in the ensuing years and decades of the 20th century.

[1] The Southeast benefitted from its business and warm climate in its population growth during the late 20th century, as it helped in attracting job seekers and retirees from other U.S. regions.

Southeast states such as North Carolina and Georgia saw large population growth increases as well during the late 20th century.

They instead divide a larger region which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia, designated as "the South," into three separate subregions, none of which are conventionally considered to define the Southeast.

Cities along this corridor from north to south include Raleigh-Durham area, Greensboro, Charlotte, Spartanburg, Greenville, Atlanta, and Montgomery.

The mid-South, especially Tennessee, and the northern halves of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, have maximum monthly rainfall amounts in winter and spring, owing to copious Gulf moisture and clashes between warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and cold, dry air from Canada during the cold season.

Winters are cool in the northern areas like Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, and western North Carolina, with average high temperatures in the 45 °F (7 °C) range in January.

Examples of this include the surge in tourism in Florida and along the Gulf Coast; the numerous new automobile production plants such as Mercedes-Benz in Tuscaloosa;[16] Hyundai in Montgomery;[17] Toyota Motors in Blue Springs, Mississippi;[18] Kia in West Point, Georgia; BMW production plant in Greer, South Carolina; Volkswagen in Chattanooga; GM manufacturing plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee; with the Nissan North American headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee; Mercedes-Benz USA; and Porsche North American headquarters in the Atlanta area; the two largest research parks in the country: Research Triangle Park in the Triangle area of North Carolina (the world's largest) and the Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Alabama (the world's fourth largest); corporate headquarters of Bank of America, Truist Financial, and Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina, the corporate headquarters of Verso Paper and FedEx in Memphis, Tennessee as well as the corporate headquarters of the Coca Cola Company, Delta Airlines, the Home Depot and United Parcel Service in Atlanta, Georgia.

[20] In Alabama, there is the large-scale manufacturing project owned by the German steel megacorporation ThyssenKrupp, which operates a massive, state-of-the-art facility in Mobile.

The Southeast has seven National Basketball Association (NBA) franchises: the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic, and Washington Wizards.

Major League Baseball (MLB) maintains five teams in the Southeast: the Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, and Washington Nationals.

The Southeast has five National Hockey League (NHL) franchises: the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Washington Capitals.

The southeast also hosts two of the three legs of the American Triple Crown: the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, and the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is an NCAA Division I conference with many Southeastern college teams, including the: Clemson Tigers, Duke Blue Devils, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Louisville Cardinals, Miami Hurricanes, North Carolina Tar Heels, NC State Wolfpack, Virginia Cavaliers, Virginia Tech Hokies, and Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

[55] The Southeastern Conference is also an NCAA Division I conference made up of Southeastern college teams, including the: Alabama Crimson Tide, Arkansas Razorbacks, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats, LSU Tigers, Ole Miss Rebels, Mississippi State Bulldogs, South Carolina Gamecocks, Tennessee Volunteers, and Vanderbilt Commodores.