US English usage question: "Upstate"

[lareinemisere]

As a British English speaker, I've seen a lot of references to 'upstate New York' over the years, and had never bothered myself  too much about the precise definition, as it generally seemed fairly clear from context. And then, this week, I came across a reference to 'upstate Washington

Comments

[artkouros]

It's never used in Texas. I've only ever heard it said about NY.

[mamculuna]

We use it in South Carolina with a different meaning. Here, the southeastern part of the state along the coast is called the Low Country, and the northwestern part is called the upstate, more with the sense of moving toward the mountains. One of the local campuses of the state university is called University of South Carolina Upstate.

[rheasilvia]

Sorry, but I can't help but respond to your icon:

...and #10 has been chosen by lot to be killed? *g*

[muckefuck]

I was going to say that, here in Illinois, we have "downstate" but no "upstate", since the major metropolitan area (Chicago) is located in the north. But "upstate Illinois" gets 13,500 Ghits. Still, this is a tenth the number for "downstate Illinois".

[blue_sky_day]

I don't see it often, but recently I used "upstate Michigan" to communicate to someone out-of-state that I was talking about something outside Metro Detroit.