A wireless sensor network (WSN) is a collection of spatially distributed autonomous sensor nodes that can be used to monitor, among other things, environmental conditions. WSN nodes are constrained by their limited energy supply, communication range and local computational capabilities. Data routing is an area that can be optimized to allow nodes to conserve energy, improving the network’s overall lifetime. Though many routing protocols can be used, using a clustering protocol can play an important role in conserving WSN energy. A new hybrid algorithm is proposed which incorporates both distributed and centralized algorithms for selection of the cluster head (CH). In most networks, sensor nodes have limited energy, so a mobile data collector (MDC) is used to collect information, reducing energy requirements. The performance of proposed algorithm is evaluated using NS-2 simulations. The results show that proposed algorithm has better performance, throughput, network lifetime compared to existing routing protocols.