Every U.S. City, by the Numbers
One profile for each of 28,702 cities and towns across 52 states & territories — population, income, housing, safety, climate and schools, drawn straight from Census, FBI, NOAA and NCES.
Half of America's 28,702 “cities” have fewer than 1,257 residents — the famous metros are statistical outliers, and every one of them has a profile here.
- Cities profiled
- 28,702
- States & territories
- 52
- Federal sources
- 8 agencies
- Median city size
- 1,257 people
The national picture
New York, NY is the largest of 28,702 tracked cities, and median rent swings 4.5x between the priciest large city and the most affordable one.
- 28,702
- cities tracked, all 50 states
- New York
- largest city (8,516,202 people)
- 4.5x
- rent gap: Salinas vs Fort Smith
- 1,257
- median tracked-city population
Every figure here is read live from the same Census/FBI/NOAA/NCES data that powers each city profile below.
What does city data reveal that a population headline misses?
Five findings from across the full federal record — each one a starting point you can drill into.
1,257
is the median city's population — half of the 28,702 places profiled are smaller, so the metros you know are outliers
13,148
building permits issued by Fort Worth, TX in 2024 — the most of any US city, out of 879,610 nationwide
4.5×
gap in median rent between the priciest large city ($4,214, Salinas) and the most affordable ($937, Fort Smith)
170
cities are so affluent their median household income hits the Census $250,000 reporting ceiling — income data tops out before they do
85.4%
of the 28,702 tracked places are small towns under 10,000 people — just 9 cross the 1-million mark, so the household-name metros are the rarest category on this site, not the typical one
How we calculate these five numbers
Median population and the size-mix share are computed directly from the full 28,702-city table (population buckets: small town under 10,000; mid-size 10,000–99,999; large 100,000–999,999; megacity 1,000,000+). The permit leader and rent spread are the max/min of the corresponding Census/permit fields across every tracked city. The income top-code count is every city whose reported median household income sits at the Census $250,000 reporting ceiling — a real dataset limit, not a claim that no city earns more. See the methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
How home value and crime rate move together in America's biggest cities
Among the 20 largest US cities, median home value spans 8.0× from cheapest to priciest — plotted here against each city's FBI crime rate. Bubble size scales with population.
Census ACS 2023 median home value vs. FBI UCR crime rate, 20 largest US cities.
How we calculate this
The 20 cities plotted are the largest by Census ACS 2023 population with both a reported median home value and an FBI UCR crime rate. Crime rate combines violent and property crime per 100,000 residents; the vertical axis is inverted so lower crime (safer) plots higher. Bubble size is proportional to each city's population. The “affordable” / “pricier” split falls at this group's own median home value, not a national threshold — see each city's full profile for the exact figures.
U.S. city coverage by state
PlainCities tracks 28,702 cities across 52 states & territories. Cell color encodes the number of cities profiled per state (Census ACS 2023 5-year geography).
Major US Cities
City Rankings
Safest Cities
Safest cities in the current ranking
Lower violent and property crime rates are safer
- Worcester, MA 16.5/100k
Worcester, MA
16.5/100k incidents per 100,000 residents
- Savannah, GA 20.3/100k
Savannah, GA
20.3/100k incidents per 100,000 residents
- Matawan, NJ 20.5/100k
Matawan, NJ
20.5/100k incidents per 100,000 residents
- Campton Hills, IL
Campton Hills, IL
55.7/100k incidents per 100,000 residents
- Turtle Creek, PA
Turtle Creek, PA
61.6/100k incidents per 100,000 residents
What this shows The chart mirrors the current ranking table so readers can compare the scale of each city’s reported crime rate before opening its profile.
FBI UCR 2023 violent + property crime rate per 100,000 residents, lower is safer.
See top 100 →Most Affordable
See top 100 →Best Weather
See top 100 →Frequently Asked Questions
What is PlainCities?
PlainCities is a free city intelligence hub that brings together data from multiple federal sources, including the Census Bureau, FBI, NOAA, and NCES, into comprehensive profiles for 28,702 US cities and places.
Where does the data come from?
Demographics and economics from Census ACS 5-Year 2023, crime data from FBI UCR, climate normals from NOAA 1991-2020, and school counts from NCES. All data is publicly available and presented as-is.
Is this free to use?
Yes. All data and tools are completely free to use. No accounts, no paywalls.
City Guides
Data-driven analysis and practical frameworks for choosing where to live, work, and retire.
Best Cities for Families
Safety, schools, affordability, and economic stability analyzed across four data dimensions.
Safest Cities in America
Understanding FBI crime data, what it tells you, what it misses, and how to compare responsibly.
How to Read Census Data
ACS estimates, margins of error, and practical rules for interpreting city statistics.
Live Data Products
DB-driven views of US city building permit, school access, crime, and affordability data. Every number refreshes from the source database. See all live data.
Browse all US cities
Per-city profiles with population, building permits, schools, crime, affordability, and infrastructure indicators — live from the database.
Live dataBrowse cities by state
State-level overviews showing all cities, top building permit issuers, school access, affordability, and crime trends — live aggregations.
Live dataRankings by category
Live rankings: construction activity (building permits), school access, crime safety, affordability index, and growth trends — sortable, filterable.
What to do with this data
Every ranking on this page is one metric at a time, use these next steps to see the fuller picture before deciding on a place.
- Worcester, MA tops the safety ranking, if crime rate is your priority, start with its full profile rather than the summary card above. Worcester profile
- Eunola, AL leads on affordability, cross-reference it against the safety and weather lists to see if it also fits your other priorities. Full affordability ranking
- No single ranking captures fit, put two specific cities side by side across every tracked metric at once. Compare cities
Each ranking above reflects one metric in isolation (safety, affordability, or weather), not a composite score, a city can lead one list and rank poorly on another.
About this data
How PlainCities works, and why you can trust these numbers
What this site is
PlainCities is a free city intelligence hub covering 28,000+ US cities and towns. We combine demographics and economics from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, crime statistics from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, climate normals from NOAA, and school counts from the National Center for Education Statistics into one profile per city.
Editorial process
- Source. Pull the latest published extracts directly from the Census Bureau's ACS and Building Permits Survey, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, NOAA climate normals, and the NCES Common Core of Data.
- Verify. Every figure is loaded as published by the issuing federal agency, with the agency and vintage recorded alongside each metric so a reader can trace any number back to its source.
- Publish. Compile a per-city profile combining population, income, housing, safety, climate and schools, plus rankings and comparisons across all 28,000+ cities.
Editorial independence & corrections
PlainCities is independent and accepts no payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement. Found an error or an outdated figure? File a correction via the contact page; PlainCities checks reports against the cited source and documents substantive updates. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.
Frequently asked
What is PlainCities?
PlainCities is a free city intelligence hub that brings together data from multiple federal sources, including the Census Bureau, FBI, NOAA, and NCES, into comprehensive profiles for 28,702 US cities and places.
Where does the data come from?
Demographics and economics from Census ACS 5-Year 2023, crime data from FBI UCR, climate normals from NOAA 1991-2020, and school counts from NCES. All data is publicly available and presented as-is.
Is this free to use?
Yes. All data and tools are completely free to use. No accounts, no paywalls.