Eddie On Everything

List of the 50 Largest Cities in the United States

June 4, 2006 on 2:55 pm | In lists, stats |

The top four largest cities in the United States - New York, LA, Chicago, and Houston - aren’t going to be unseated any time soon. But change is afoot as the nation’s population shifts towards the Southwest part of the country.

Of the top 10 largest cities, 7 are in California, Arizona, and Texas. Cities like Phoenix and San Antonio have such a phenomenal growth rate that their populations have more than quintupled over the last 15 years, while northern cities like Detroit and Philly are steadily losing residents and decreasing in size.

Look for this trend to continue as newly arrived immigrants settle in the Southwest, and people continue to flee northern cities for warmer southern pastures.

50 Largest Cities in the U.S.

	7/1/2004 population estimate	4/1/2000 census population	4/1/1990 census population	Percent population change 1990–2000	Size rank 1990	Size rank 2000	Size rank 2004
New York, N.Y.	8,104,079	8,008,278	7,322,564	9.4	1	1	1
Los Angeles, Calif.	3,845,541	3,694,820	3,485,398	6.0	2	2	2
Chicago, Ill.	2,862,244	2,896,016	2,783,726	4.0	3	3	3
Houston, Tex.	2,012,626	1,953,631	1,630,553	19.8	4	4	4
Philadelphia, Pa.	1,470,151	1,517,550	1,585,577	–4.3	5	5	5
Phoenix, Ariz.	1,418,041	1,321,045	983,403	34.3	10	6	6
San Diego, Calif.	1,263,756	1,223,400	1,110,549	10.2	6	7	7
San Antonio, Tex.	1,236,249	1,144,646	935,933	22.3	9	9	8
Dallas, Tex.	1,210,393	1,188,580	1,006,877	18.0	8	8	9
San Jose, Calif.	904,522	894,943	782,248	14.4	11	11	10
Detroit, Mich.	900,198	951,270	1,027,974	–7.5	7	10	11
Indianapolis, Ind.	784,242	781,870	741,952	6.7	13	12	12
Jacksonville, Fla.	777,704	735,617	635,230	15.8	15	14	13
San Francisco, Calif.	744,230	776,733	723,959	7.3	14	13	14
Columbus, Ohio	730,008	711,470	632,910	12.4	16	15	15
Austin, Tex.	681,804	656,562	465,622	41.0	25	16	16
Memphis, Tenn.	671,929	650,100	610,337	6.5	18	18	17
Baltimore, Md.	636,251	651,154	736,014	–11.5	12	17	18
Fort Worth, Tex.	603,337	534,694	447,619	19.5	29	27	19
Charlotte, N.C.	594,359	540,828	395,934	36.6	33	26	20
El Paso, Tex.	592,099	563,662	515,342	9.4	22	23	21
Milwaukee, Wis.	583,624	596,974	628,088	–5.0	17	19	22
Seattle, Wash.	571,480	563,374	516,259	9.1	21	24	23
Boston, Mass.	569,165	589,141	574,283	2.6	20	20	24
Denver, Colo.	556,835	554,636	467,610	18.6	28	25	25
Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky.	556,332	256,231	269,063	–4.8	58	67	26
Washington, DC	553,523	572,059	606,900	–5.7	19	21	27
Nashville-Davidson, Tenn.	546,719	545,524	510,784	11.6	26	22	28
Las Vegas, Nev.	534,847	478,434	258,295	85.2	63	32	29
Portland, Ore.	533,492	529,121	437,319	21.0	27	28	30
Oklahoma City, Okla.	528,042	506,132	444,719	13.8	30	29	31
Tucson, Ariz.	512,023	486,699	405,390	20.1	34	30	32
Albuquerque, N.M.	484,246	448,607	384,736	16.6	40	35	33
Long Beach, Calif.	476,564	461,522	429,433	7.5	32	34	34
New Orleans, La.	462,269	484,674	496,938	–2.5	24	31	35
Cleveland, Ohio	458,684	478,403	505,616	–5.4	23	33	36
Fresno, Calif.	457,719	427,652	354,202	20.7	48	37	37
Sacramento, Calif.	454,330	407,018	369,365	10.2	37	40	38
Kansas City, Mo.	444,387	441,545	435,146	1.5	31	36	39
Virginia Beach, Va.	440,098	425,257	393,069	8.2	39	38	40
Mesa, Ariz.	437,454	396,375	288,091	37.6	53	42	41
Atlanta, Ga.	419,122	416,474	394,017	5.7	38	39	42
Omaha, Nebr.	409,416	390,007	335,795	16.1	47	44	43
Oakland, Calif.	397,976	399,484	372,242	7.3	35	41	44
Tulsa, Okla.	383,764	393,049	367,302	7.0	44	43	45
Miami, Fla.	379,724	362,470	358,548	1.1	46	47	46
Honolulu, Hawaii	377,260	371,657	365,272	1.7	41	46	47
Minneapolis, Minn.	373,943	382,618	368,383	3.9	43	45	48
Colorado Springs, Colo.	369,363	360,890	281,140	28.4	54	48	49
Arlington, Tex.	359,467	332,969	261,721	27.2	62	54	50

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