Skyscrapers in the United States

Skyscrapers are often defined as buildings that are relatively tall, that have an elevator, and use metal frame construction.  The first skyscraper, if we use this definition, was the Home Insurance Building on Chicago (1884).   That building was not particularly tall.  In 2002, there were 99 buildings in excess of 700 feet high in the United States, and many others spread around the world.


One reason for the construction of tall buildings is to spread the cost of expensive land across many stories of floorspace. 

It is not surprising, then, that there is a close relationship between the population living in U.S. metropolitan areas and the number of skyscrapers over 700 feet in height that they contain.   The larger the population, in theory, the more intense the competition for centrally located sites, and the higher central land values should be driven by the market.  This seems to be borne out by the graph shown above.

 The larger the metropolitan population the more likely one is to find tall skyscrapers.


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Last Revised: November  24, 2002