The Simpsons' Springfield Mystery Wasn't Meant To Be A Mystery At All
"What state is Springfield in?" is a question almost every "The Simpsons" fan has asked, desperate to bring the characters a bit closer to reality. It's also a question with no answer (unlike the recently-answered question of how Homer Simpson keeps his job).
The book "The Springfield Confidential" — an inside look at "The Simpsons" by former showrunner Mike Reiss (with help from Mathew Klickstein) — explains the origin of Springfield's name. Creator Matt Groening chose it because it was such a common and generic name for American towns (Reiss claims that 43 states have a Springfield, though Condé Nast reports it's only 34. Still, more states have a Springfield than ones that don't). Springfield was also the name of the town in the 1950s sitcom "Father Knows Best," which likewise treated its setting as "Anytown, USA."
"I was thrilled because I imagined that [Springfield in 'Father Knows Best'] was the town next to Portland, [Oregon], my hometown. When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name," Groening recounted.
Aside from Oregon, here are some other notable Springfields in the United States. Massachusetts has the first Springfield, Missouri has the largest Springfield, and Springfield, Illinois, is that state's capital. However, none of these are the Simpsons' Springfield; theirs represents all towns in the United States, including all the real Springfields. The capital of this nebulous state is known as only "Capital City," a name which is even more nondescript than "Springfield."
Springfield can have a canyon, snow-covered mountains, a seaside coast, off-coast oil rigs, deserts, and redwood forests if that's what the episode demands. Pinning down a location would make "The Simpsons" less universal. That didn't stop fans from compiling the geographic inconsistencies on "The Simpsons" wiki, TV Tropes, and YouTube as "evidence" for and against where Springfield might be found.
The Simpsons live everywhere and nowhere
"The Simpsons" has never been shy about teasing its fans; just watch "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" or "The Principal and the Pauper." As more and more people started asking about the identity of Springfield's state, the writers have had fun withholding it. In season 7's "Much Apu About Nothing," Lisa points to Springfield's location on a map of the U.S.A. ... but Bart walks in front of the map, his head blocking it from view. In season 11's "Kill The Alligator and Run," the Simpsons visit Florida and are banned from the state by the episode's end. It turns out they've been banned from every state except Arizona and North Dakota (they then decide to visit the latter).
Reiss points out a few others in "The Springfield Confidential." In the season 11 finale "Behind The Laughter," the Simpsons are called a "Northern Kentucky family," but in subsequent airings, this state was changed to Missouri. In "The Simpsons Movie," the "four states that border Springfield" are listed as Ohio, Kentucky, Nevada, and Maine. Ohio and Kentucky do border each other, but Nevada and Maine are on opposite sides of the country.
Reiss says secondhand that Groening considers Springfield to be the aforementioned Springfield, Oregon (though Reiss adds, "What the hell does [Groening] know"). If you have fun speculating about where Springfield is, more power to you. Just don't take it too seriously or start thinking the show has any obligation to truthfully answer. The purpose of the ambiguity isn't a mystery for fans to solve, but (as Groening put it) for "everyone [to] think it's their Springfield."