Demographia

Large USA Urban Areas: 1950 to 2000
Areas Achieving 1,000,000 Population

Previous File Data

  POPULATION in 000s              
Rank Urbanized Area 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Notes
1 New York 12,296 14,115 16,207 15,590 16,044 17,800  
2 Los Angeles 3,997 6,489 8,351 9,479 11,402 11,789 Mission Viejo removed 2000
3 Chicago 4,921 5,959 6,715 6,780 6,792 8,308  
4 Philadelphia 2,922 3,635 4,021 4,112 4,222 5,149  
5 Miami 459 853 1,220 1,608 1,915 4,919 Ft. Lauderdale & West Palm Beach added 2000
6 Dallas-Fort Worth 855 1,435 2,016 2,451 3,198 4,146  
7 Boston 2,233 2,413 2,653 2,679 2,775 4,032  
8 Washington 1,287 1,808 2,481 2,763 3,363 3,934  
9 Detroit 2,752 3,738 3,971 3,809 3,697 3,903  
10 Houston 701 1,140 1,678 2,412 2,902 3,823  
11 Atlanta 507 768 1,172 1,613 2,157 3,500  
12 San Francisco-Oakland 2,022 2,431 2,988 3,191 3,630 3,229 Concord & Vallejo removed 2000
13 Phoenix 216 552 863 1,409 2,006 2,907  
14 Seattle 622 864 1,238 1,392 1,744 2,712  
15 San Diego 433 836 1,198 1,704 2,348 2,674  
16 Minneapolis-St. Paul 987 1,377 1,701 1,788 2,080 2,389 Substantial non-urban land included 1960-1990
17 St. Louis 1,401 1,668 1,883 1,849 1,947 2,078  
18 Baltimore 1,162 1,419 1,580 1,755 1,890 2,076  
19 Tampa-St. Petersburg 408 627 863 1,353 1,709 2,062  
20 Denver 499 804 1,047 1,352 1,518 1,985  
21 Cleveland 1,384 1,785 1,960 1,752 1,677 1,787  
22 Pittsburgh 1,533 1,804 1,846 1,810 1,678 1,753  
23 Portland 513 652 825 1,026 1,172 1,583  
24 San Jose 176 603 1,025 1,244 1,435 1,538  
25 Riverside-San Bernardino 136 378 584 705 1,170 1,506  
26 Cincinnati 813 994 1,111 1,123 1,212 1,503  
27 Norfolk 385 508 668 770 1,323 1,394  
28 Sacramento 212 452 641 796 1,097 1,393  
29 Kansas City 698 921 1,102 1,098 1,275 1,362  
30 San Antonio 450 642 773 945 1,129 1,328  
31 Las Vegas   89 236 432 697 1,314  
32 Milwaukee 829 1,150 1,252 1,207 1,226 1,309  
33 Indianapolis 502 639 820 836 915 1,219  
34 Providence 583 660 795 796 846 1,175  
35 Orlando 73 200 305 577 887 1,157  
36 Columbus 438 617 790 834 945 1,133  
37 New Orleans 660 845 962 1,078 1,040 1,009 Substantial non-urban land included 1950,1960,1980,1990
38 Buffalo 895 1,054 1,087 1,002 954 977  
Fort Lauderdale   320 614 1,008 1,238   Combined with Miami 2000
                 
  Total 50,960 67,244 81,242 88,128 99,255 117,855  
                 
                 
  LAND AREA (Square Miles)              
  Urbanized Area 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Notes Above
  New York 1,253 1,892 2,425 2,808 2,967 3,353  
  Los Angeles 871 1,370 1,572 1,827 1,966 1,668  
  Chicago 708 960 1,277 1,498 1,585 2,123  
  Philadelphia 312 597 752 1,015 1,164 1,799  
  Miami 117 183 259 340 353 1,116  
  Dallas-Fort Worth 262 920 1,071 1,280 1,443 1,407  
  Boston 345 516 664 857 891 1,736  
  Washington 178 341 495 807 945 1,157  
  Detroit 423 732 872 1,044 1,119 1,261  
  Houston 270 431 539 1,049 1,177 1,295  
  Atlanta 106 246 435 905 1,137 1,963  
  San Francisco-Oakland 287 572 681 796 874 527  
  Phoenix 55 248 388 600 741 799  
  Seattle 123 238 413 424 588 954  
  San Diego 133 276 381 611 690 782  
  Minneapolis-St. Paul 231 657 721 980 1,063 894  
  St. Louis 228 323 461 597 728 829  
  Baltimore 152 220 310 523 593 683  
  Tampa-St. Petersburg 180 218 291 527 650 802  
  Denver 105 167 293 439 459 499  
  Cleveland 300 587 646 629 636 647  
  Pittsburgh 254 525 596 713 778 852  
  Portland 114 192 267 349 388 474  
  San Jose 61 223 277 326 338 260  
  Riverside-San Bernardino 61 169 310 359 460 439  
  Cincinnati 146 242 335 420 512 672  
  Norfolk 62 109 299 418 664 527  
  Sacramento 42 134 254 278 334 369  
  Kansas City 149 282 475 589 762 584  
  San Antonio 90 192 223 354 438 408  
  Las Vegas --- 34 121 185 231 286  
  Milwaukee 102 392 457 496 512 487  
  Indianapolis 91 145 381 433 469 553  
  Providence 143 188 244 282 299 504  
  Orlando 25 77 132 312 395 453  
  Columbus 65 145 235 305 345 398  
  New Orleans 222 267 184 230 270 198  
  Buffalo 123 160 214 266 286 367  
  Fort Lauderdale   124 212 289 327    
                 
  Total 8,389 15,294 20,162 26,160 29,577 34,125  
                 
                 
  POPULATION DENSITY              
  Urbanized Area 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Notes above
  New York 9,813 7,460 6,683 5,552 5,407 5,309  
  Los Angeles 4,589 4,736 5,312 5,188 5,800 7,068  
  Chicago 6,951 6,207 5,258 4,526 4,285 3,913  
  Philadelphia 9,365 6,089 5,347 4,051 3,627 2,862  
  Miami 3,923 4,661 4,710 4,729 5,425 4,408  
  Dallas-Fort Worth 3,263 1,560 1,882 1,915 2,216 2,947  
  Boston 6,472 4,676 3,995 3,126 3,114 2,323  
  Washington 7,230 5,302 5,012 3,424 3,559 3,400  
  Detroit 6,506 5,107 4,554 3,648 3,304 3,095  
  Houston 2,596 2,645 3,113 2,299 2,466 2,952  
  Atlanta 4,783 3,122 2,694 1,782 1,897 1,783  
  San Francisco-Oakland 7,045 4,250 4,388 4,009 4,153 6,127  
  Phoenix 3,927 2,226 2,224 2,348 2,707 3,638  
  Seattle 5,057 3,630 2,998 3,283 2,966 2,843  
  San Diego 3,256 3,029 3,144 2,789 3,403 3,419  
  Minneapolis-St. Paul 4,273 2,096 2,359 1,824 1,957 2,672  
  St. Louis 6,145 5,164 4,085 3,097 2,674 2,507  
  Baltimore 7,645 6,450 5,097 3,356 3,187 3,040  
  Tampa-St. Petersburg 2,267 2,876 2,966 2,567 2,629 2,571  
  Denver 4,752 4,814 3,573 3,080 3,307 3,978  
  Cleveland 4,613 3,041 3,034 2,785 2,637 2,762  
  Pittsburgh 6,035 3,436 3,097 2,539 2,157 2,058  
  Portland 4,500 3,396 3,090 2,940 3,021 3,340  
  San Jose 2,885 2,704 3,700 3,816 4,246 5,915  
  Riverside-San Bernardino 2,230 2,237 1,884 1,964 2,543 3,431  
  Cincinnati 5,568 4,107 3,316 2,674 2,367 2,237  
  Norfolk 6,210 4,661 2,234 1,842 1,992 2,645  
  Sacramento 5,048 3,373 2,524 2,863 3,284 3,775  
  Kansas City 4,685 3,266 2,320 1,864 1,673 2,332  
  San Antonio 5,000 3,344 3,466 2,669 2,578 3,255  
  Las Vegas   2,618 1,950 2,335 3,017 4,594  
  Milwaukee 8,127 2,934 2,740 2,433 2,395 2,688  
  Indianapolis 5,516 4,407 2,152 1,931 1,951 2,204  
  Providence 4,077 3,511 3,258 2,823 2,829 2,331  
  Orlando 2,920 2,597 2,311 1,849 2,246 2,554  
  Columbus 6,738 4,255 3,362 2,734 2,739 2,847  
  New Orleans 2,973 3,165 5,228 4,687 3,852 5,096  
  Buffalo 7,276 6,588 5,079 3,767 3,336 2,662  
  Fort Lauderdale   2,581 2,896 3,488 3,786    
                 
  Average 5,250 3,906 3,514 3,041 3,096 3,357  
                 
                 
  ESTIMATED HOUSEHOLD DENSITY            
    1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Notes above
                 
  Average 1,513 1,152 1,093 1,078 1,136 1,253  
                 
  Household density estimate assumes national rate for each year
  Changes in urban definitions occured throughout the period, the most important being from 1990 to 2000.

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