The largest city in the United States is New York City. With over 8.3 million residents, nearly twice as many people live here as in the runner-up, Los Angeles. New York is so densely populated that approximately 1 in every 38 Americans lives in this single city.
In America, the rule is: bigger is better. Still, there is a major difference between the old cities on the East Coast (high-rise, packed together) and the cities in the West and South (vastly sprawling, many highways).
The dominance of the state of Texas in this list is striking; people are moving south in massive numbers due to the warmer weather and lower taxes.
Here are the 10 most populous cities in The Land of the Free.
1. New York City (8.3 million residents)
The Big Apple is in a category of its own. The city consists of five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. It is the financial and cultural heart of the Western world. The population density here is extreme; if the whole world lived as densely as in NYC, the entire human race would fit inside the state of Texas.
2. Los Angeles (3.8 million residents)
On the other side of the country lies the City of Angels. L.A. is totally different from New York: it is a massive collection of interconnected neighborhoods linked by traffic jams. It is the entertainment capital of the world (Hollywood). Because the city is so spread out, a car is an absolute necessity here, unlike in New York.
3. Chicago (2.6 million residents)
The “Windy City” sits on the shores of the giant Lake Michigan. Chicago is the birthplace of the skyscraper; this is where building upward first began. It is the economic hub of the Midwest. Tourists mainly come for the architecture, blues music, and the famous “Deep Dish Pizza.”
4. Houston (2.3 million residents)
The largest city in Texas. Houston is the energy capital of the world (oil and gas) and the home of NASA (“Houston, we have a problem”). The city is notorious for its lack of zoning laws, meaning a skyscraper, a church, and a strip club can sometimes be found right next to each other. It is one of the fastest-growing and most diverse cities in the US.
5. Phoenix (1.6 million residents)
Phoenix is a phenomenon. The city is located in the middle of the scorching Sonoran Desert. Thanks to the invention of air conditioning, this city was able to grow into the fifth-largest in the country. It is a popular spot for retirees (“snowbirds”) and tech companies. In the summer, the thermometer regularly hits 45 degrees Celsius.
6. Philadelphia (1.5 million residents)
The City of “Brotherly Love” is perhaps the most important from a historical perspective. This is where the American Declaration of Independence was signed. It is a gritty, proud blue-collar city (famous from the Rocky films and the steps in front of the museum). It is conveniently located between New York and Washington D.C.
7. San Antonio (1.4 million residents)
The second Texan city on the list. San Antonio is one of the oldest Spanish settlements in the region and has a strong Mexican influence. The city is famous for “The Alamo” (an old fort where a heroic battle took place) and the beautiful River Walk, a network of walkways along the river below street level.
8. San Diego (1.3 million residents)
Located near the Mexican border, this is a laid-back city. San Diego is known for its “perfect weather” (20-25 degrees Celsius year-round). It is a major base for the US Navy; you will see massive aircraft carriers docked in the harbor everywhere. The world-famous San Diego Zoo also attracts millions of visitors.
9. Dallas (1.3 million residents)
Number three from Texas. Dallas, along with its neighbor Fort Worth, forms a gigantic urban area (“The Metroplex”). The city is known for oil barons, the TV series Dallas, and the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. It is a city of big money, big hats, and an enormous focus on business.
10. Jacksonville (985,000 residents)
A surprise to many: this city in Florida is larger than Miami or San Francisco. How is that possible? Jacksonville consolidated its city limits with those of the entire county. As a result, the city’s surface area is massive (the largest in land area in the contiguous US). It is an important port city and military hub.