Demographia

USA Urbanized Areas over 500,000:
2000 and 1990 Comparability
(Draft)

These tables use the larger of the 1990 or 2000 urbanized areas to make a general comparison of population, land area and density trends. The Census Bureau's method for classifying urbanized land changed in 2000, to correct previous over-estimates of urbanized land. As such the density and land area comparisons in this page should be used with caution.

In addition, some urban areas were split, while others were combined. Still others added or lost parts of other urban areas.

The large land area losses in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Kansas City, Virginia Beach, Oklahoma City and New Orleans occured as a result of rural land that had been previously classified as urban because it was within municipal limits.

Density of New Development

Rank Urbanized Area 2000 Population 2000 Square Miles 2000 Density Density Rank 1990 Population 1990 Square Miles 1990 Density
1 New York--Newark, NY--NJ--CT 17,799,861 3,353 5,309 3 16,044,012 2,966 5,409
2 Los Angeles--Long Beach--Santa Ana, CA 12,492,983 1,859 6,720 1 11,402,946 1,966 5,801
3 Chicago, IL--IN 8,307,904 2,123 3,914 11 7,351,244 1,837 4,001
4 Philadelphia, PA--NJ--DE--MD 5,149,079 1,799 2,861 25 4,671,827 1,352 3,455
5 Miami, FL 4,919,036 1,116 4,407 8 3,947,642 986 4,002
6 Dallas--Fort Worth--Arlington, TX 4,145,659 1,407 2,946 22 3,198,259 1,443 2,216
7 Boston, MA--NH--RI 4,032,484 1,736 2,323 46 3,414,177 1,199 2,848
8 San Francisco--Oakland, CA 4,015,398 758 5,298 4 3,629,516 874 4,152
9 Washington, DC--VA--MD 3,933,920 1,157 3,401 17 3,363,031 945 3,560
10 Detroit, MI 3,903,377 1,261 3,094 20 3,697,529 1,119 3,303
11 Houston, TX 3,822,509 1,295 2,951 22 2,901,851 1,177 2,465
12 Atlanta, GA 3,499,840 1,963 1,783 64 2,157,806 1,137 1,898
13 Phoenix--Mesa, AZ 2,907,049 799 3,638 14 2,006,239 741 2,707
14 Seattle, WA 2,712,205 954 2,844 27 2,241,296 821 2,731
15 San Diego, CA 2,674,436 782 3,419 16 2,348,417 690 3,403
16 Minneapolis--St. Paul, MN 2,388,593 894 2,671 32 2,079,676 1,063 1,956
17 Baltimore, MD 2,250,952 785 2,868 24 1,946,526 728 2,673
18 St. Louis, MO--IL 2,077,662 829 2,506 38 1,968,463 633 3,110
19 Tampa--St. Petersburg, FL 2,062,339 802 2,571 36 1,708,710 650 2,630
20 Denver--Aurora, CO 1,984,887 499 3,979 10 1,517,977 459 3,308
21 Cleveland, OH 1,786,647 647 2,761 30 1,677,492 636 2,638
22 Pittsburgh, PA 1,753,136 852 2,057 55 1,678,745 778 2,158
23 San Jose, CA 1,622,932 298 5,439 2 1,435,019 338 4,240
24 Portland, OR--WA 1,583,138 474 3,340 18 1,172,158 388 3,021
25 Riverside--San Bernardino, CA 1,506,816 439 3,434 15 1,170,196 460 2,543
26 Cincinnati, OH--KY--IN 1,503,262 672 2,238 47 1,330,990 565 2,357
27 Kansas City, MO--KS 1,417,029 607 2,334 44 1,275,317 762 1,674
28 Virginia Beach, VA 1,394,439 527 2,647 35 1,323,098 664 1,994
29 Sacramento, CA 1,393,498 369 3,776 13 1,097,005 334 3,286
30 San Antonio, TX 1,327,554 408 3,257 19 1,129,154 438 2,578
31 Las Vegas, NV 1,314,357 286 4,597 7 697,348 231 3,018
32 Milwaukee, WI 1,308,913 487 2,688 31 1,226,293 512 2,395
33 Indianapolis, IN 1,218,919 553 2,205 49 914,761 469 1,951
34 Providence, RI--MA 1,174,548 504 2,332 45 1,044,132 367 2,842
35 Orlando, FL 1,157,431 453 2,554 37 887,126 395 2,248
36 Columbus, OH 1,133,193 398 2,849 26 945,237 345 2,741
37 New Orleans, LA 1,009,283 198 5,102 5 1,040,226 270 3,852
38 Buffalo, NY 976,703 367 2,664 34 954,332 286 3,343
39 Memphis, TN--MS--AR 972,091 400 2,431 41 825,193 341 2,420
40 Austin, TX 901,920 318 2,835 28 562,008 273 2,057
41 Bridgeport--Stamford, CT--NY 888,890 465 1,910 58 709,951 289 2,455
42 Salt Lake City, UT 887,650 231 3,847 12 789,447 254 3,107
43 Jacksonville, FL 882,295 411 2,149 51 738,413 508 1,454
44 Louisville, KY--IN 863,582 391 2,207 48 754,956 283 2,672
45 Hartford, CT 851,535 469 1,814 63 689,262 295 2,335
46 Oklahoma City, OK 833,481 353 2,364 42 693,506 370 1,877
47 Richmond, VA 818,836 437 1,875 59 455,597 242 1,885
48 Charlotte, NC--SC 758,927 435 1,745 65 573,294 483 1,186
49 Nashville-Davidson, TN 749,935 431 1,741 66 784,425 647 1,213
50 Tucson, AZ 720,425 291 2,473 40 579,235 247 2,350
51 Honolulu, HI 718,182 154 4,660 6 632,603 139 4,561
52 Dayton, OH 703,444 324 2,174 50 613,467 273 2,244
53 Rochester, NY 694,396 295 2,353 43 619,653 220 2,816
54 El Paso, TX--NM 674,801 219 3,080 21 571,017 220 2,591
55 Birmingham, AL 663,615 392 1,693 68 622,074 399 1,560
56 Omaha, NE--IA 626,623 226 2,768 29 544,292 193 2,820
57 Albuquerque, NM 598,191 224 2,671 33 497,120 226 2,202
58 Allentown--Bethlehem, PA--NJ 576,408 289 1,991 56 410,436 142 2,888
59 Springfield, MA--CT 573,610 309 1,857 61 532,747 302 1,765
60 Akron, OH 570,215 308 1,853 62 527,863 257 2,053
61 Sarasota--Bradenton, FL 559,229 270 2,068 54