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Pic related is a map where I outline the list of eastern states that are not part of the "Northeast Corridor" or Florida. I left off states like Kansas and Nebraska, that are intersect the 100th meridian as the less populated high plains region begins there. Over 114 million people live in these states, over 1/3rd of the US population. These states total 2.62 million square kilometers. I drew a line around a roughly equivalent area in mainland Europe.
The average population density of this area of the US is 48 people per square kilometer. There's not a single European country enclosed in that area with a density that low. France is at 121, which is higher than the densest state in the list (Ohio, at 111). Spain is 90, on par with Illinois which is the second-most dense state in the list. You have to go to Belarus and the Baltic states to find substantial regions with lower density than the average in this part of the US.
