50 states + DC + Puerto Rico · data updated August 2026

Biggest Cities in Each State

This lists the single largest incorporated city or Census-designated place, by resident population, in each of the 50 US states, plus DC and Puerto Rico, using U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. "Biggest" here means the city itself, not its surrounding metro area -- for several states (e.g. Virginia, New Jersey) the largest metro is anchored by a city outside the state or a different core city than shown here.

52
Places ranked
New York
Largest overall
8,516,202
Its population

Data updated August 2026

A note on this ranking: "Biggest" ranks the city's own population, not its metro area. A state's largest CITY and its largest METRO AREA are not always the same place -- for example New Jersey has no single dominant city the way most states do, and several state capitals are far smaller than that state's largest city. 1 of these places (Washington) have only one incorporated city or CDP in our dataset, so no in-state runner-up comparison applies to them.

Burlington, VT is the smallest state-leading city on this list at 44,649 residents -- still the biggest place in its state, just in a state with no large cities at all.

Where the #1 city dominates most

Population margin over the state's #2 city (%), top 12 states

% larger than the state's #2 city

What this shows New York, NY leads its state's #2 city (Buffalo) by 2,981%, the largest in-state population gap of any state's leading city; the smallest gap is Charleston, WV at 4% over Huntington.

Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates (2023) As of 2023
#Biggest cityPopulation
1New YorkNew York8,516,202
2Los AngelesCalifornia3,857,897
3ChicagoIllinois2,707,648
4HoustonTexas2,300,419
5PhoenixArizona1,624,832
6PhiladelphiaPennsylvania1,582,432
7JacksonvilleFlorida961,739
8ColumbusOhio906,480
9CharlotteNorth Carolina886,283
10IndianapolisIndiana882,043
11SeattleWashington741,440
12DenverColorado713,734
13Oklahoma CityOklahoma688,693
14Nashville-DavidsonTennessee684,298
15WashingtonDistrict of Columbia672,079
16BostonMassachusetts663,972
17Las VegasNevada650,873
18PortlandOregon642,715
19DetroitMichigan636,644
20Louisville/Jefferson CountyKentucky627,210
21BaltimoreMaryland577,193
22MilwaukeeWisconsin569,756
23AlbuquerqueNew Mexico562,488
24Kansas CityMissouri508,233
25AtlantaGeorgia499,287
26OmahaNebraska488,197
27Virginia BeachVirginia457,066
28MinneapolisMinnesota426,845
29WichitaKansas396,488
30New OrleansLouisiana376,035
31Urban HonoluluHawaii346,323
32San Juan zona urbanaPuerto Rico320,691
33NewarkNew Jersey307,188
34AnchorageAlaska289,069
35Boise CityIdaho235,701
36HuntsvilleAlabama218,814
37Des MoinesIowa212,464
38Salt Lake CityUtah203,888
39Little RockArkansas202,739
40Sioux FallsSouth Dakota197,642
41ProvidenceRhode Island190,214
42CharlestonSouth Carolina152,014
43JacksonMississippi149,827
44BridgeportConnecticut148,012
45FargoNorth Dakota129,064
46BillingsMontana118,321
47ManchesterNew Hampshire115,415
48WilmingtonDelaware71,124
49PortlandMaine68,505
50CheyenneWyoming64,976
51CharlestonWest Virginia47,918
52BurlingtonVermont44,649

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2023 vintage, released December 2024), this ranks the single largest tracked place in each of the 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico, out of 28,702 total US places in our dataset. See our methodology for the full data-collection process.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates (2023). Verify directly with the source agency: U.S. Census Bureau.

What to do with this list

Use this to see which cities anchor each state, then dig into the specific places you're considering.

  • New York, NY is the largest state-leading city overall at 8,516,202 -- see its full profile. New York profile
  • Put two specific cities side by side across every tracked metric, not just population. Compare cities
  • See every ranked city in New York together, not just its state leader. New York state page

This ranking reflects city (place) population only, not metro-area population -- a state's largest metro can be centered on a different city than its largest incorporated place.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Primary source: Census ACS.

Related

100 most populous cities → | Browse all city profiles → | Explore city rankings →
Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau →

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.