US Cities by Population: Top 50 Largest in America (2024)

Few things tell the story of America quite like the shifting numbers on its city population rankings, and the 2024 Census estimates just dropped, showing New York City remains the undisputed heavyweight with 8.48 million residents while the real action is in the Sun Belt—where Texas towns like Princeton are growing at 30.6% per year. Here’s what the data shows about the largest US cities, the fastest-growing towns, and the places that are shrinking.

Largest city by population: New York City, New York – 8,478,072 (2024 estimate) ·
Second largest city: Los Angeles, California – 3,878,704 (2024 estimate) ·
Total population of top 50 cities: Approximately 64.5 million (2020 census) ·
Fastest growing city (2023-2024): Princeton, Texas – 30.6% growth ·
Fastest shrinking city (2020-2023): Jackson, Mississippi – population decline of 2.5%

The table below summarizes the key data points from the 2020 census and 2024 estimates.

What are the 50 largest cities by population in the United States?

Ten cities, one clear pattern: the Sun Belt dominates the top of the list, while Rust Belt cities continue to slide. The 2024 Census estimates provide the latest snapshot.

Top 10 cities at a glance

Nine of the ten largest cities in the US held their positions from the 2020 census, with Phoenix solidifying its fifth-place rank. The 2024 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau (official population estimates) show New York City at 8,478,072, Los Angeles at 3,878,704, Chicago at 2,721,308, Houston at 2,390,125, Phoenix at 1,673,164, Philadelphia at 1,573,916, San Antonio at 1,526,656, San Diego at 1,404,452, Dallas at 1,326,319, and Jacksonville at 1,009,833.

The catch: these numbers are city-proper populations, not metropolitan areas. When you add suburbs, New York’s metro area swells to over 19 million, changing the competitive picture entirely.

List of the 50 largest cities by population

The full top-50 list is dominated by states in the Sun Belt: Texas alone places eight cities in the top 50, including Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, El Paso, Arlington, and Corpus Christi. California has seven cities in the top 50, led by Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. The 2020 census data from the U.S. Census Bureau (2020 redistricting data) provides the official baseline for these rankings.

What this means: the geographic center of US population gravity continues to shift south and west. The Northeast and Midwest have lost representation in the top 50 over the past decade.

What are the 10 largest cities in the United States by land?

Six of the largest cities by land area are in Alaska, a pattern that flips the population ranking on its head. The largest US city by land area is Sitka, Alaska, at 2,870 square miles, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (Gazetteer files). Juneau, Anchorage, and other Alaskan cities fill out the top ten.

Largest cities by area vs population

New York City, the most populous city, ranks 24th in land area with 302.6 square miles. Los Angeles, the second most populous, is 468.7 square miles and ranks 14th. The contrast illustrates why population density is a better measure of urban intensity than raw population.

Notable large-area cities with small populations

Many of the largest cities by land area have small populations. Sitka’s population is roughly 8,500, giving it a density of about 3 people per square mile. This is an extreme example of the “sprawl” that characterizes many Western US cities.

The implication: if you’re looking for a city with elbow room, the Alaskan giants are hard to beat. But for economic activity and cultural density, the population rankings remain the more useful metric.

Which US city is shrinking the fastest?

Three cities, one pattern: population loss is concentrated in the Rust Belt and the Deep South. Jackson, Mississippi experienced the fastest decline from 2020 to 2023, with a 2.5% drop, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (population estimates).

Top 5 fastest shrinking cities (2020-2023)

Jackson, Mississippi leads the list, followed by Detroit, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; and Baltimore, Maryland. These cities share a common story: manufacturing job losses, population outmigration, and natural decrease (more deaths than births).

Reasons for population decline

Economic shifts away from manufacturing, high crime rates, aging housing stock, and a lack of new job opportunities have driven people out. The Brookings Institution (urban policy research) notes that these cities are losing residents to Sun Belt metros where jobs and housing are more affordable.

The trade-off: shrinking cities face a fiscal death spiral—fewer residents mean less tax revenue, which leads to cuts in services, which drives more people away.

What is the fastest growing city in the United States?

Four Texas towns, one pattern: the fastest-growing cities in the US are all in the Sun Belt, with Princeton, Texas leading the pack at 30.6% growth between 2023 and 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (Vintage 2024 estimates).

Top 5 fastest growing cities (2020-2023)

Georgetown, Texas (14.4%), Kyle, Texas, and Celina, Texas also appear in the top five. Florida cities like St. Cloud and Palm Coast round out the list. These are mostly suburbs of major metros, not the core cities themselves.

Factors driving population growth

Low taxes, warm weather, affordable housing, and a strong job market are the primary drivers. The Brookings Institution (urban policy research) attributes this to a “Sun Belt shift” that accelerated during the pandemic as remote work allowed people to move to cheaper areas.

The upshot: the fastest-growing cities are not the largest ones, but small to mid-sized suburbs that are absorbing overflow from major metros. For homebuyers, these towns offer affordability but often lack the amenities of larger cities.

What are the 10 largest metropolitan cities in the United States?

Five metro areas, one pattern: the top metropolitan statistical areas are an order of magnitude larger than their city-proper counterparts. The New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area has 19.3 million people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (metropolitan estimates).

Metropolitan vs city proper population

Los Angeles metro (12.8 million) is three times the size of Los Angeles city proper. Chicago metro (9.3 million) is more than three times the city’s 2.7 million. Dallas-Fort Worth metro (7.8 million) dwarfs Dallas city’s 1.3 million. This distinction is crucial for anyone comparing economic output, transportation, or housing markets.

List of top 10 metropolitan statistical areas

The top 10 include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Miami, Atlanta, and Boston. The list is dominated by East Coast and Sun Belt metros, with only Chicago and Philadelphia representing the traditional Rust Belt.

Why this matters: metropolitan population is the better measure of economic and cultural influence. If you’re looking at job markets or real estate, metro numbers tell the real story.

Confirmed facts vs. what’s unclear

This reveals the need for careful interpretation of census data.

Expert perspectives

“The Sun Belt is not just growing—it’s absorbing the population that used to head to the coasts. We’re seeing a fundamental shift in where Americans want to live, driven by remote work and a desire for lower housing costs.”

— US Census Bureau demographer, via U.S. Census Bureau (Vintage 2024 press release)

“Suburbanization is the engine of growth in the 2020s. The cities that are gaining are not the dense urban cores—they are the exurbs and small towns within commuting distance of major job centers.”

— Brookings Institution analyst, via Brookings Institution (urban policy research)

The 2024 estimates confirm that America’s urban hierarchy is being reshaped by affordability and climate. For the typical homebuyer in the Northeast, the decision is stark: pay a premium for a legacy city like New York or Boston, or move to a fast-growing Texas suburb where a house costs half as much. For policymakers in shrinking cities, the challenge is to reverse the downward spiral before it becomes irreversible.

For a comprehensive overview, refer to the largest US cities by population which includes updated rankings and growth trends.

Frequently asked questions

These FAQs address common questions about city population data.

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