Answer: Missouri

The Federal Reserve Bank, the regional banks of the United States Federal Reserve System, are located throughout the United States in 12 distinct Federal Reserve Districts that encompass all regions including Alaska, Hawaii, and even American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The banks are geographically distributed widely enough that, with one exception, they do not fall within the boundaries of a single state. The distance between the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (which serves the 12th district), for example, and the nearest other Federal Reserve Bank is in excess of one thousand miles.

The one exception to the rule is found in Missouri. The state of Missouri houses two Federal Reserve banks: the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. What exactly did Missouri do to deserve such a distinction? The citizens of the state elected James A. Reed who, in 1913, changed his vote on the Federal Reserve Act to an affirmative one and broke a firm deadlock. As a reward for breaking the deadlock and moving the legislation forward, one Federal Reserve Bank was placed in the heavily populated and commerce-critical location of St. Louis, Missouri and another was placed in Kansas City, a city Reed had previous served as mayor of.