Top 50 Cities in the U.S. by Population and Rank

America's Big Cities

America's largest city is New York City, by far. The city itself has more than twice as many people as Los Angeles, and the New York-Newark urban area is the country's only megacity.

These numbers do not necessarily reflect the size of their different metro areas. Washington D.C., Boston, and Dallas-Fort Worth are three major instances where the city proper is ranked very differently from the urban area. DFW is usually clumped together for urban studies. Washington and Boston's urban areas are both usually in the top 10, rather than the low 20s.

The table below lists the largest 50 cities in the United States based on population. While some cities have kept their ranking fairly stable, others showed large leaps. For example, Phoenix, Arizona, has grown from a city of 983,403 residents in 1990 to the country's fifth largest. Austin, Texas, nearly doubled its population, and it continues to see a large number of new residents each year.

Some cities, such as Detroit, have decreased in population. The Motor City, which once had 1.8 million residents in the 1950s, went down to a population of 1,027,974 in 1990 and has continued to decline.

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RANK	CITY	Population Estimate 7/1/19	2010 Census	2000 Census	1990 Census
1	New York, New York	8,336,817	8,175,133	8,008,278	7,322,564
2	Los Angeles, California	3,979,576	3,792,621	3,694,820	3,485,398
3	Chicago, Illinois	2,693,976	2,695,598	2,896,016	2,783,726
4	Houston, Texas	2,320,268	2,100,263	1,953,631	1,630,553
5	Phoenix, Arizona	1,680,992	1,445,632	1,321,045	983,403
6	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1,584,064	1,526,006	1,517,550	1,585,577
7	San Antonio, Texas	1,547,253	1,327,407	1,144,646	935,933
8	San Diego, California	1,423,851	1,307,402	1,223,400	1,110,549
9	Dallas, Texas	1,343,573	1,197,816	1,188,580	1,006,877
10	San Jose, California	1,021,795	945,942	894,943	782,248
11	Austin, Texas	978,908	790,390	656,562	465,622
12	Jacksonville, Florida	911,507	821,784	735,617	635,230
13	Fort Worth, Texas	909,585	741,206	534,694	447,619
14	Columbus, Ohio	898,553	787,033	711,470	632,910
15	Charlotte, North Carolina	885,708	731,424	540,828	395,934
16	San Francisco, California	881,549	805,235	776,733	723,959
17	Indianapolis, Indiana	876,384	820,445	781,870	741,952
18	Seattle, Washington	753,675	608,660	563,374	516,259
19	Denver, Colorado	727,211	600,158	554,636	467,610
20	Washington, DC	705,749	601,723	572,059	606,900
21	Boston, Massachusetts	692,600	617,594	589,141	574,283
22	El Paso, Texas	681,728	649,121	563,662	515,342
23	Nashville-Davidson, Tennessee¹	670,820	601,222	545,524	510,784
24	Detroit, Michigan	670,031	713,777	951,270	1,027,974
25	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	655,057	579,999	506,132	444,719
26	Portland, Oregon	654,741	583,776	529,121	437,319
27	Las Vegas, Nevada	651,319	583,756	478,434	258,295
28	Memphis, Tennessee	651,073	646,889	650,100	610,337
29	Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky²	617,638	597,337	256,231	269,063
30	Baltimore, Maryland	593,490	620,961	651,154	736,014
31	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	590,157	594,833	596,974	628,088
32	Albuquerque, N.M.	560,513	545,852	448,607	384,736
33	Tucson, Arizona	548,073	520,116	486,699	405,390
34	Fresno, California	531,576	494,665	427,652	354,202
35	Mesa, Arizona	518,012	439,041	396,375	288,091
36	Sacramento, California	513,624	466,488	407,018	369,365
37	Atlanta, Georgia	506,811	420,003	416,474	394,017
38	Kansas City, Missouri	495,327	459,787	441,545	435,146
39	Colorado Springs, Colorado	478,221	416,427	360,890	281,140
40	Omaha, Nebraska	478,192	408,958	390,007	335,795
41	Raleigh, North Carolina	474,069	403,892	276,093	207,951
42	Miami, Florida	467,963	399,457	362,470	358,548
43	Long Beach, California	462,628	462,257	461,522	429,433
44	Virginia Beach, Virginia	449,974	437,994	425,257	393,069
45	Oakland, California	433,031	390,724	399,484	372,242
46	Minneapolis, Minnesota	429,606	382,578	382,618	368,383
47	Tulsa, Oklahoma	401,190	391,906	393,049	367,302
48	Tampa, Florida	399,700	335,709	303,447	280,015
49	Arlington, Texas	398,854	365,438	332,969	261,721
50	New Orleans, Louisiana	390,144	343,829	484,674	495,080

1. Nashville-Davidson city is consolidated with Davidson County.

2. Louisville and Jefferson County merged in Jan. 2003. Figures prior to 2003 are for Louisville city only.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Web: www.census.gov . For 1900–2005 population estimates, see Population of the 20 Largest U.S. Cities, 1900–2010.

Biggest doesn't always mean best

Although in general America's biggest cities are major centers of global wealth and culture, that doesn't necessarily mean they're the best to live in for the average person. Major cities can experience a very high cost of living. If the cost of living outpaces wages in the city, then it can force people to move out to cheaper locations. America's three biggest tech markets-San Francisco, New York, and Boston-all have very high housing costs compared to cities in the Midwest.

Or, depending on what your interests are, the best cities might be unrelated to their size or even affordability. Cultural attractions might play a big factor; Austin, Texas, for example, is often called America's live music capital. If you're someone who attends a lot of concerts, that may influence your judgement. Click here to see the list of America's most livable cities.