U.S. Cities 1790-2000
Below are lists of the largest cities and metro areas in the U.S. at various times over the last 2+ centuries, plus a list of the metro areas currently experiencing the greatest and least growth.
- Largest cities in the U.S.
- 1790:
| 1
| New York, NY | 33,131
|
| 2 | Philadelphia, PA | 28,522
|
| 3 | Boston, MA | 18,320
|
| 4 | Charleston, SC | 16,359
|
| 5 | Baltimore, MD | 13,503
|
| 6 | Northern Liberties township, PA | 9,913
|
| 7 | Salem, MA | 7,921
|
| 8 | Newport, RI | 6,716
|
| 9 | Providence, RI | 6,380
|
| 10t | Marblehead, MA | 5,661
|
| 10t | Southwark, PA | 5,661
|
- 1890:
| 1 | New York, NY | 1,515,301
|
| 2 | Chicago, IL | 1,099,850
|
| 3 | Philadelphia, PA | 1,046,964
|
| 4 | Brooklyn, NY | 806,343
|
| 5 | St. Louis, MO | 451,770
|
| 6 | Boston, MA | 448,477
|
| 7 | Baltimore, MD | 434,439
|
| 8 | San Francisco, CA | 298,997
|
| 9 | Cincinnati, OH | 296,908
|
| 10 | Cleveland, OH | 261,353
|
- 2000:
| 1 | New York, NY | 8,008,278
|
| 2 | Los Angeles, CA | 3,694,820
|
| 3 | Chicago, IL | 2,896,016
|
| 4 | Houston, TX | 1,953,631
|
| 5 | Philadelphia, PA | 1,517,550
|
| 6 | Phoenix, AZ | 1,321,045
|
| 7 | San Diego, CA | 1,223,400
|
| 8 | Dallas, TX | 1,188,580
|
| 9 | San Antonio, TX | 1,144,646
|
| 10 | Detroit, MI | 951,270
|
- Largest Metropolitan Areas in the U.S. (2000):
- New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA
- Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA
- Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI
- Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV
- San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA
- Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-DE-MD
- Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT
- Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI
- Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
- Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX
- Fastest growing metro areas, 1990-2000
| 1
| Las Vegas | 83.3%
|
| 2 | Naples, FL | 65.3%
|
| 3 | Yuma, AZ | 49.7%
|
| 4 | McAllen, TX | 48.5%
|
| 5 | Austin, TX | 47.7%
|
| 6 | Fayetteville, AR | 47.5%
|
| 7 | Boise | 46.1%
|
| 8 | Phoenix | 45.3%
|
| 9 | Laredo, TX | 44.9%
|
| 10 | Provo, UT | 39.8%
|
- Fastest declining metro areas, 1990-2000
| 271
| Anniston, AL | -3.3%
|
| 272 | Johnstown, PA | -3.6%
|
| 273 | Wheeling, WV | -3.8%
|
| 274 | Alexandria, LA | -4.0%
|
| 275 | Elmira, NY | -4.3%
|
| 276 | Pittsfield, MA | -4.5%
|
| 277 | Binghamton, NY | -4.6%
|
| 278 | Utica, NY | -5.3%
|
| 279 | Grand Forks, ND | -5.5%
|
| 280 | Steubenville, OH | -7.4%
|
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Contact Dave at schul.1@osu.edu
Last modified May 27, 2004.