The Most Populous Cities in the United States

America's biggest cities, by population.

The largest U.S. cities by population, led by New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Figures count people within city limits rather than the surrounding metropolitan areas.

#	Place	Population
1	New York City The largest city in the United States	8,478,072
2	Los Angeles The second-largest U.S. city, on the Southern California coast	3,878,704
3	Chicago The third-largest U.S. city, on Lake Michigan	2,721,308
4	Houston The fourth-largest U.S. city, on the Gulf Coast plain	2,390,125
5	Phoenix Capital of Arizona and the desert Southwest's largest city	1,673,164
6	Philadelphia The sixth-largest U.S. city, between two rivers	1,573,916
7	San Antonio A historic Texas city on the edge of the Hill Country	1,526,656
8	San Diego A Pacific port at California's southwest corner	1,404,452
9	Dallas A North Texas city on the blackland prairie	1,326,087
10	Jacksonville Florida's most populous city, on the St. Johns River	1,009,833
11	Fort Worth Where the West begins, on the West Fork of the Trinity	1,008,106
12	San Jose The capital of Silicon Valley, in the Santa Clara Valley	997,368
13	Austin Capital of Texas, on the edge of the Hill Country	993,588
14	Charlotte A banking hub on the Carolina Piedmont	943,476
15	Columbus Capital of Ohio and the state's largest city	933,263

Place

Population

New York City
The largest city in the United States

8,478,072

Los Angeles
The second-largest U.S. city, on the Southern California coast

3,878,704

Chicago
The third-largest U.S. city, on Lake Michigan

2,721,308

Houston
The fourth-largest U.S. city, on the Gulf Coast plain

2,390,125

Phoenix
Capital of Arizona and the desert Southwest's largest city

1,673,164

Philadelphia
The sixth-largest U.S. city, between two rivers

1,573,916

San Antonio
A historic Texas city on the edge of the Hill Country

1,526,656

San Diego
A Pacific port at California's southwest corner

1,404,452

Dallas
A North Texas city on the blackland prairie

1,326,087

Jacksonville
Florida's most populous city, on the St. Johns River

1,009,833

Fort Worth
Where the West begins, on the West Fork of the Trinity

1,008,106

San Jose
The capital of Silicon Valley, in the Santa Clara Valley

997,368

Austin
Capital of Texas, on the edge of the Hill Country

993,588

Charlotte
A banking hub on the Carolina Piedmont

943,476

Columbus
Capital of Ohio and the state's largest city

933,263

Figures are drawn from standard government and reference sources and shown in both imperial and metric units. See each entry for full details and citations. Browse all guides or open the explore map.