Original research
Top 10 Largest US Cities by Population
PlainCities ranks the largest US cities by total population using US Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates.
Research question
Across the 28,702 US cities tracked in PlainCities, which carry the largest absolute population counts, and how do the leading metropolitan urban cores compare to mid-tier regional centers in raw resident count?
Methodology
Every number on this page is read from PlainCities' current dataset at the moment you load it, ranked from highest to lowest and limited to the top 10. The page does not hardcode a separate table; it reflects the active, validated dataset.
Values are shown in the units and precision published by U.S. Census Bureau. Where the source reports figures in thousands or millions, we scale them for readability; where the source reports raw counts, we preserve them with standard thousand-separators. Records with a missing or zero value on the ranking metric are excluded rather than shown as artificial zeros.
The U.S. Census Bureau publishes the American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates on its own release schedule. PlainCities updates this ranking after it ingests and validates a refreshed release; agency revisions follow the same review path. See the methodology page for the active source vintage and refresh history.
Outliers are shown as published, not silently smoothed or clipped, so readers can judge them in context via the source link. Where the source changes its reporting period, column definitions, or coverage scope between releases, we note it on the methodology page rather than blending incompatible vintages into one ranking.
PlainCities maintains an editorial standards process for how rankings are built, how outliers are handled, and how disputed values are corrected. The byline at the top of this page names the editorial owner accountable for its framing. Every figure traces back to the original U.S. Census Bureau record via the citation below, so independent verification never requires anything beyond the public source. Corrections, takedowns, or clarifications can be requested through the contact channels in the site footer.
Top 10 largest US cities by population
Live Census-based city totals, ranked from the portal database
- New York
New York
8,516,202 residents
- Los Angeles
Los Angeles
3,857,897 residents
- Chicago 2,707,648
Chicago
2,707,648 residents
- Houston 2,300,419
Houston
2,300,419 residents
- Phoenix 1,624,832
Phoenix
1,624,832 residents
- Philadelphia 1,582,432
Philadelphia
1,582,432 residents
- San Antonio 1,458,954
San Antonio
1,458,954 residents
- San Diego 1,385,061
San Diego
1,385,061 residents
- Dallas 1,299,553
Dallas
1,299,553 residents
- San Jose 990,054
San Jose
990,054 residents
What this shows New York has the largest population in the current tracked city set; the bars show how the next nine cities compare.
The ranked top 10
Every row below reflects PlainCities' current dataset (10 rows shown). It changes after PlainCities ingests and validates a refreshed source release.
| # | City | State | Population | Median household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | NY | 8,516,202 | $79,713 |
| 2 | Los Angeles | CA | 3,857,897 | $80,366 |
| 3 | Chicago | IL | 2,707,648 | $75,134 |
| 4 | Houston | TX | 2,300,419 | $62,894 |
| 5 | Phoenix | AZ | 1,624,832 | $77,041 |
| 6 | Philadelphia | PA | 1,582,432 | $60,698 |
| 7 | San Antonio | TX | 1,458,954 | $62,917 |
| 8 | San Diego | CA | 1,385,061 | $104,321 |
| 9 | Dallas | TX | 1,299,553 | $67,760 |
| 10 | San Jose | CA | 990,054 | $141,565 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Figures are read from PlainCities' current dataset after the source release has been ingested and validated. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Figures are read from PlainCities' current dataset after the source release has been ingested and validated.
Findings
Top entity in the ranking
The top-ranked record in this dataset is New York, with a value of 8,516,202 on the Population column. The full top-10 set is rendered in the table above. No number on this page is hardcoded. When U.S. Census Bureau publishes a revision, PlainCities validates and ingests it before the ranking and its prose reflect the new vintage.
Distribution shape
The gap between the top-ranked record (8,516,202) and the 10th-ranked record (990,054) characterizes how concentrated the top of the distribution is. Where the top value is many multiples of the median value of the visible set, the population is highly concentrated, a small number of entities accumulate the bulk of the measured quantity. Where the top and bottom of the visible set are close together, the distribution is relatively flat across the top end. The full distribution beyond this top-10 cut is summarized in the aggregate context section below and explored in the linked entity profiles.
Aggregate context
Across the full population behind this ranking, here are the summary statistics: how many records exist in total, the sum of the ranking metric across all qualifying records, and the mean per-record value. The methodology page documents the exact filter applied (records with null or zero values on the ranking metric are excluded). This aggregate row is computed from the same dataset that powers the ranking above.
Source provenance
The records in this ranking originate from U.S. Census Bureau, specifically the American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. PlainCities serves the current ingested vintage from its dataset rather than a static export. A newly published source vintage appears here after the documented ingest-and-validation process is complete. The methodology page documents the source URL, the vintage date, and how the figures are compiled.
Why this ranking matters
Rankings like this one let a reader scan a population quickly and identify outliers, concentrations, and patterns that warrant deeper investigation. The detail pages linked from each entity in the table above give the full per-entity context: time-series history where available, related metrics from adjacent tables, and links onward to the underlying source records. The methodology page explains how an entity earns inclusion in the dataset and how the ranking column is computed at the source.
What this analysis cannot tell us
Population counts come from US Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, which represent rolling averages across the most recent 5 survey years rather than a point-in-time snapshot. Cities with smaller populations carry wider margins of error in ACS estimates, and recent population shifts (post-pandemic relocation, climate-driven migration) may not be fully reflected in the 5-year aggregate. The PlainCities database treats each Census-designated place as a distinct city; metropolitan statistical areas, urbanized areas, and contiguous suburbs are not aggregated under their core city's record. Some incorporated places near major cores (Long Island City, Brooklyn, Bronx) are aggregated into their parent city by the Census Bureau and appear under the parent record. Population is a count of residents enumerated by the Census; it is not a measure of commuter workforce, daytime population, or economic activity volume.
Population aggregated across tracked cities
State totals from the same live Census-derived city records
- California
California
37,319,308 residents
- Texas
Texas
22,886,668 residents
- Florida
Florida
16,937,782 residents
- New York
New York
16,244,323 residents
- Illinois 11,210,441
Illinois
11,210,441 residents
- Ohio 8,319,672
Ohio
8,319,672 residents
- Pennsylvania 7,286,428
Pennsylvania
7,286,428 residents
- Arizona 6,782,806
Arizona
6,782,806 residents
- North Carolina 6,594,310
North Carolina
6,594,310 residents
- Washington 6,459,401
Washington
6,459,401 residents
What this shows This companion view aggregates the tracked city population within each state, rather than treating a state total as a separate source dataset.
Sources
- US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates - https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
- US Census Bureau, Population and Housing Unit Estimates - https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest.html
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.