Population as a function of time for cities that have appeared in the top 10 since 1790. Note that the logarithmic scale means that the observed slope gives the percentage growth, not the absolute growth.Linear visualization of population of the United States cities only when they are among the top 10
This list tracks and ranks the population of the top 10 largest cities and other urban places in the United States by decade, as reported by each decennial United States Census, starting with the 1790 Census. For 1790 through 1990, tables are taken from the U.S Census Bureau's "Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990."[1] For year 2000 rankings, data from the Census Bureau's tally of "Cities with 100,000 or More Population Ranked by Selected Subject" is used.[2] The 2010 rankings are based on the 2010 census results.[3]
The Census Bureau's definition of an "urban place" has included a variety of designations, including city, town, township, village, borough, and municipality. The top 10 urban areas in 1790 consisted of various places designated as cities, towns and townships. The top 10 urban areas in 2010 are all separate incorporated places.
This list generally refers only to the population of individual urban places within their defined limits at the time of the indicated census. Some of these places have since been annexed or merged into other cities. Other places may have expanded their borders due to such annexation or consolidation. For example, after the 1898 consolidation of New York City, the Census Bureau has defined all the boroughs within its city limits as one "urban place". Similarly, Philadelphia's population has included the census counts within both the former urban areas of Northern Liberties, Pennsylvania and Southwark, Pennsylvania ever since Philadelphia's 1854 consolidation.
Rankings based on data drawn from the eighth United States Census, the last national decennial census conducted before the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. This is the first census where the Northeast does not hold a supermajority of the top ten largest cities.
The large jump in population between the seventh and eighth censuses is due to the 1854 Act of Consolidation, which greatly expanded the City of Philadelphia to be coterminous with Philadelphia County, and abolished all other local governments in the county. The "Philadelphia" prior to 1854 is present-day Center City.
First appearance in top 10. In the previous census, it was the 24th largest American city with a population of 29,963. At one point, Chicago would be the world's fastest growing city.
This was the ninth United States Census. This is the first census where the Northeast does not hold a simple majority of the top ten largest cities (Briefly returns to 6 in the 1910 census). This is also the first census in which every city in the top 10 has a population of over 100,000.
First West Coast city in top 10. Its population boom began after 1848 with the Gold Rush and continued with silver discoveries such as the Comstock Lode in 1859. The first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869.
The total population of these 10 cities was 3,697,264.
The city of St. Louis seceded from St. Louis County in 1876.[b] The population of St. Louis City and St. Louis County during the Census was ~386,000.[14]
This is the last census before New York was consolidated into its present-day Five Boroughs municipal arrangement (therefore the figure is that of New York County, which at the time consisted of Manhattan Island and the western part of what later would become The Bronx).
Third city in the US to reach 1 million. Chicago overtakes Philadelphia as the nation's second most populous city shortly after they both pass the 1 million mark.
This is the last census where the City of Brooklyn is counted as an independent city. Brooklyn would be politically absorbed into New York City in 1898 and have its population counted as a component of the latter city's figure from the Twelfth census onward.
First and only city in the US to surpass 4 million residents. Manhattan reached its historical high of over 2.3 million while Brooklyn had 1,634,351. However, the other three less populated boroughs began to grow rapidly as a result of then-recent transportation improvements, including the expansion of the NYC subway system into the city's formerly rural hinterland and the opening of new East River and Harlem River crossings, which provided a demographic escape valve for Manhattan and Brooklyn's densely populated tenement districts. First (and to date, the only) city to reach 4 million.
The rise of the automobile industry in the Detroit area propelled its growth substantially between 1910 and 1920, doubling its population in only 10 years.
Four of the ten cities here would have their first ever population drop in 1940. Though slight, they would presage a precipitous decline that started in 1950. The 1940 census was the sixteenth. This is also the first census in which the total population of the 10 largest cities combined increased by less than 10% from the last census, 10 years ago (<1% per year).
1950 was a watershed year for many cities in the United States. Many cities in the country peaked in population, but started a slow decline caused by suburbanization associated with pollution, congestion, and increased crime rates in inner cities, while the improved infrastructure of the Eisenhower Interstate System more easily facilitated car commutes and white flight of the white middle class. The G.I. Bill made available low interest loans for returning World War II veterans seeking more commodious housing in the suburbs. Of the eighteen most populous cities in the 1950 census, fifteen have declined in population as of the 2020 census, with the exceptions of New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Although populations within city limits dropped in many American cities, the metropolitan populations of most cities continued to increase greatly. The 1950 census was the seventeenth.
Population peaked this census. To date, Detroit is the only city in the United States to have a population grow beyond 1 million and then fall below that figure.
The 1960 Census was the Eighteenth. This was the first census (see also 1980) to show a decline in the combined total population of top ten cities, with 826,495 ( 3.8%) fewer people than the 1950 Census' top ten cities.
By 1980, the population trends of urban decline and suburbanization that started in the 1950s were at their peak. This was the second census (see also 1960) to show a decline in the combined total population of the top ten cities, with 1,142,003 (5.2%) fewer people than the 1970 Census' top ten cities, mostly due to the large drop in population of New York City. This is the first census in which half of the top ten cities are in the Sun Belt, specifically the West South Central and South Western area of the country.[24] The 1980 census was the twentieth.
New York City experienced the largest total population drop by a city up to this point in American history, recording 820,000 fewer people in 1980 than ten years before. The city government was crippled by severe financial strains and near bankruptcy as a result of its declining tax base during the 1970s, until being bailed out by the federal government later that decade.
The 1990 Census was the Twenty-first. Continued trends of western cities' growth and Northeastern cities' contraction now place a majority of the top ten cities in the western portion of the Sun Belt, a regional concentration not seen since Northeastern cities dominated the top of the first seven censuses.[25]
Ninth city in the U.S. (and first and only in the Mountain West) to surpass 1 million, as well as the only Arizona city and only state capital to do so too.
Seven of the country's ten largest cities in 2010 were located in the Sun Belt region of the south and west, all of which have far lower population density than their earlier top-ranking counterparts. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations which count both city and suburban populations. The 2010 census was the twenty-third.
The total population of these 10 cities was 24,513,008.
2020
2020 is the first census in which all ten of the largest cities have populations of over one million. It is also the first census since 1940 in which no cities entered or left the top ten, and the first census since 1950 in which all ten cities gained population. This was the twenty-fourth census.
^ abArenson, Adam (2011). The great heart of the republic: St. Louis and the cultural Civil War. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. p. 191-192. ISBN0674052889.
