Seven states compose the division: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota and it makes up the western half of the United States Census Bureau's larger region of the Midwest, the eastern half of which consists of the East North Central states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

[1] The Mississippi River marks the bulk of the boundary between these two divisions.

The West North Central states are regarded as constituting the core of the nation's "Farm Belt."

Since the early 1990s, the West North Central division has consistently had the lowest unemployment rate in the United States (especially in its many college towns), and has also been noted for its plentiful supply of affordable housing.

As of 2020, the West North Central states had a combined population of 21,616,921.