Largest Cities in the U.S., 1950
By 1950, there were a variety of transportation technologies that were of importance
to the continued growth of individual cities. Of most significance was growth in the use of
motor vehicles and surfaced roads.
1. New York 7,891,957
2. Chicago 3,620,962
3. Philadelphia 2,071,605
4. Los Angeles 1,970,358
5. Detroit 1,849,568
6. Baltimore 949,708
7. Cleveland 914,808
8. St. Louis 856,796
9. Washington DC 802,178
10. Boston 801,444
11. San Francisco 775,357
12. Pittsburgh 676,806
13. Milwaukee 637,392
14. Houston 596,163
15. Buffalo 580,132
16. New Orleans 570,445
17. Minneapolis 521,718
18. Cincinnati 503,998
19. Seattle 467,591
20. Kansas City 456,622
21. Dallas TX 434,462
22. Indianapolis IN 427,173
23. Denver CO 415,786
24. San Antonio TX 408,442
25. Memphis TN 396,000
26. Columbus OH 375,901
27. Portland OR 373,628
28. Louisville KY 369,129
29. San Diego CA 334,387
30. Rochester NY 332,488
31. Atlanta GA 331,314
32. Birmingham AL 326,037
33. Toledo OH 303,616
34. Akron OH 274,605
35. Omaha NE 251,117
36. Miami FL 249,276
37. Providence RI 248,674
38. Dayton OH 243,872
39. Oklahoma City 243,504
40. Richmond VA 230,310
41. Syracuse NY 220,583
42. Norfolk VA 213,513
43. Jacksonville FL 204,517
44. Worcester MA 203,486
City sizes were up. New York had grown from 4.8 million in 1910 to 7.9 in 1950.
Chicago was up from 2.2 million to 3.6 million. But there were some newcomers on
the list of largest cities. Houston only had 78,800 residents in 1910; in 1950 it had
586,193. Atlanta was 154,839 in 1910; by 1950 it had 331,314 residents.
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Last Revised: October 11, 1996