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