US POPULATION HISTORY FROM 1850
50 LARGEST CITIES

Includes Cities Not in Top 50
But Which Achieved 400,000 Population
in at Least One Census

2 Tables Plus Notes & Analysis

Population History 1850-1910: 50 Largest US Cities (Municipalities) And 2 Smaller Cities Formerly with more than 400,000 Population In Thousands
Cities	1850	1860	1870	1880	1890	1900	1910	1996 Rank
Albuquerque					6	6	11	37
Atlanta	3	10	22	37	66	90	155	38
Austin	1				15	22	30	22
Baltimore	169	212	267	332	434	509	558	15
Boston	137	178	251	363	448	560	670	20
Buffalo	42	88	118	155	256	353	424
Charlotte	1				12	19	34	32
Chicago	30	109	299	503	1,100	1,698	2,185	3
Cincinnati	115	161	216	255	297	326	364	49
Cleveland	17	43	93	160	261	382	560	25
Colorado Springs					11	21	29	50
Columbus	18	19	31	52	88	126	181	16
Dallas				10	38	43	92	9
Denver			5	36	107	133	214	26
Detroit	21	46	80	116	206	286	466	10
El Paso					10	16	39	17
Fort Worth				7	23	27	73	28
Fresno					11	12	25	39
Honolulu					21	39	52	35
Houston	3	5	9	17	26	45	79	4
Indianpolis	8	19	48	75	105	169	234	12
Jacksonville			1		17	28	58	14
Kansas City (MO)		4	32	56	133	164	248	33
Las Vegas							2	41
Long Beach						2	18	36
Los Angeles	2	4	6	11	50	102	319	2
Memphis	9	3	10	34	64	103	131	18
Miami						2	5	44
Milwaukee	20	45	71	116	204	285	374	19
Minneapolis		3	13	47	165	203	301	46
Nashville	11	17	26	43	76	81	110	24
New Orleans	116	169	191	216	242	287	330	29
New York	696	1,175	1,478	1,912	2,507	3,437	4,767	1
Newark	39	72	105	137	182	246	347
Oakland		2	11	35	49	67	150	43
Oklahoma City					4	10	64	30
Omaha		2	16	31	140	103	124	45
Philadelphia	121	566	674	847	1,049	1,293	1,549	5
Phoenix					3	6	11	6
Pittsburgh	47	78	140	235	344	452	534	48
Portland (OR)		3	8	18	46	90	207	27
Sacramento	7				26	29	45	42
San Antonio	4	51	69	105	38	53	97	8
San Diego		1	2	3	16	18	40	7
San Francisco	35	57	149	234	299	343	417	13
San Jose					18	22	29	11
Seattle			1	4	43	81	237	23
St. Louis	78	161	311	351	452	575	687	47
Tucson					5	8	13	31
Tulsa						1	18	40
Virginia Beach								34
Washington	40	61	109	147	230	279	331	21
Data from decennial US census, except 1996 (US Census Bureau estimate)

Population History from 1920: 50 Largest US Cities (Municipalities) And 2 Smaller Cities Formerly with more than 400,000 Population In Thousands
Cities	1920	1930	1940	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990	1996	1996 Rank
Albuquerque	15	27	35	97	202	245	333	385	420	37
Atlanta	201	270	302	331	487	495	425	394	402	38
Austin	35	53	88	132	187	241	315	486	541	22
Baltimore	733	805	859	950	939	905	787	736	678	15
Boston	748	781	771	801	697	641	563	574	558	20
Buffalo	507	573	576	580	533	463	358	328	311
Charlotte	46	83	101	134	202	241	315	396	442	32
Chicago	2,701	3,376	3,397	3,621	3,550	3,369	3,005	2,784	2,721	3
Cincinnati	401	451	456	504	503	454	385	364	346	49
Cleveland	796	900	898	915	876	751	574	506	498	25
Colorado Springs	30	33	37	45	70	136	215	280	345	50
Columbus	237	290	306	376	471	540	565	633	657	16
Dallas	159	260	295	434	679	844	904	1,007	1,053	9
Denver	256	288	322	416	498	515	493	468	498	26
Detroit	994	1,568	1,623	1,850	1,670	1514	1,203	1,028	1,000	10
El Paso	78	102	97	130	277	322	425	515	600	17
Fort Worth	106	163	178	279	356	393	385	448	480	28
Fresno	45	53	61	92	134	165	217	354	396	39
Honolulu	83	138	179	248	294	325	365	365	424	35
Houston	138	292	385	596	938	1,234	1,595	1,631	1,744	4
Indianpolis	314	364	387	427	491	737	701	731	746	12
Jacksonville	92	130	173	205	201	504	541	623	680	14
Kansas City (MO)	324	400	399	457	475	507	448	435	441	33
Las Vegas	2	5	8	25	64	126	165	258	377	41
Long Beach	56	142	164	251	344	359	361	429	422	36
Los Angeles	577	1,238	1,504	1,970	2,479	2,812	2,967	3,485	3,554	2
Memphis	162	253	293	396	498	624	646	618	597	18
Miami	30	111	172	249	292	335	347	359	365	44
Milwaukee	457	578	587	637	741	717	636	628	590	19
Minneapolis	381	464	492	522	483	434	371	368	359	46
Nashville	118	154	167	174	171	426	456	488	511	24
New Orleans	387	459	495	570	628	593	558	497	477	29
New York	5,620	6,930	7,455	7,892	7,782	7,896	7,072	7,323	7,381	1
Newark	415	442	430	437	405	382	329	275	269
Oakland	216	284	302	385	368	362	339	372	367	43
Oklahoma City	91	185	204	244	324	368	404	445	470	30
Omaha	192	214	224	251	302	347	314	343	364	45
Philadelphia	1,824	1,951	1,931	2,072	2,003	1,949	1,688	1,586	1,478	5
Phoenix	29	48	65	107	439	584	790	963	1,159	6
Pittsburgh	588	670	672	677	604	520	424	370	350	48
Portland (OR)	258	302	305	374	373	380	368	439	481	27
Sacramento	66	94	106	138	192	257	276	369	376	42
San Antonio	161	232	253	408	588	654	786	936	1,068	8
San Diego	74	147	203	334	573	694	847	1,111	1,117	7
San Francisco	507	634	635	775	740	716	679	724	735	13
San Jose	40	58	68	96	204	459	629	782	839	11
Seattle	315	366	368	468	557	531	494	516	525	23
St. Louis	773	822	816	857	750	622	453	397	352	47
Tucson	20	33	37	45	213	263	331	405	449	31
Tulsa	72	141	142	183	262	330	361	367	378	40
Virginia Beach				5	8	172	262	393	431	34
Washington	438	489	663	802	764	757	638	607	543	21
Data from decennial US census, except 1996 (US Census Bureau estimate)

 

Notes and Analysis
Cities	If in Another Metropolitan Area	Significant Annexations or Consolidation Since 1950?	Peak Popula- tion 000)	1996 Popula- tion (000)	Change from Peak	Change from Peak if No Annexation or Consolidation
Albuquerque		Yes	420	420	0.0%
Atlanta		Yes	495	402	-18.8%
Austin		Yes	541	541	0.0%
Baltimore		No	950	678	-28.6%	-28.6%
Boston		No	801	558	-30.3%	-30.3%
Buffalo		No	580	311	-46.4%	-46.4%
Charlotte		Yes	442	442	0.0%
Chicago		No	3,621	2,721	-24.9%	-24.9%
Cincinnati		No	504	346	-31.4%	-31.4%
Cleveland		No	915	498	-45.5%	-45.5%
Colorado Springs		Yes	345	345	0.0%
Columbus		Yes	657	657	0.0%
Dallas		Yes	1,053	1,053	0.0%
Denver		Yes	515	498	-3.3%	-3.3%
Detroit		No	1,850	1,000	-45.9%	-45.9%
El Paso		Yes	600	600	0.0%
Fort Worth	Dallas	Yes	480	480	0.0%
Fresno		Yes	396	396	0.0%
Honolulu		Yes	424	424	0.0%
Houston		Yes	1,744	1,744	0.0%
Indianpolis		Yes	746	746	0.0%
Jacksonville		Yes	680	680	0.0%
Kansas City (MO)		Yes	507	441	-13.0%
Las Vegas		Yes	377	377	0.0%
Long Beach	Los Angeles	No	429	422	-1.6%	-1.6%
Los Angeles		No	3,554	3,554	0.0%	0.0%
Memphis		Yes	646	597	-7.6%
Miami		No	365	365	0.0%	0.0%
Milwaukee		Yes	741	590	-20.4%
Minneapolis		No	522	359	-31.2%	-31.2%
Nashville		Yes	511	511	0.0%
New Orleans		No	628	477	-24.0%	-24.0%
New York		No	7,896	7,381	-6.5%	-6.5%
Newark	New York	No	442	269	-39.1%	-39.1%
Oakland	San Francisco	No	385	367	-4.6%	-4.6%
Oklahoma City		Yes	470	470	0.0%
Omaha		Yes	364	364	0.0%
Philadelphia		No	2,072	1,478	-28.7%	-28.7%
Phoenix		Yes	1,159	1,159	0.0%
Pittsburgh		No	677	350	-48.2%	-48.2%
Portland (OR)		Yes	481	481	0.0%
Sacramento		Yes	376	376	0.0%
San Antonio		Yes	1,068	1,068	0.0%
San Diego		Yes	1,117	1,117	0.0%
San Francisco		No	775	735	-5.2%	-5.2%
San Jose	San Franciso	Yes	839	839	0.0%
Seattle		Yes	557	525	-5.7%
St. Louis		No	857	352	-59.0%	-59.0%
Tucson		Yes	449	449	0.0%
Tulsa		Yes	378	378	0.0%
Virginia Beach		Yes	431	431	0.0%
Washington		No	802	543	-32.3%	-32.3%
Average						-25.6%
The O'Hare Airport annexation in Chicago is not considered because no significant population increase is attributable.