Demographia

US Urbanized Areas
1950-1990
Suburban Rankings

CONTENTS
Population
Land Area
Density
Change in Population
Change in Land Area
Change in Density
Share of Urbanized Area
Change in Share
Notes & Caveats

POPULATION          
Rank Urbanized Area 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990
1 New York 4,404 6,333 8,312 8,518 8,722
2 Los Angeles 2,027 4,010 5,535 6,512 7,917
3 Chicago 1,300 2,409 3,348 3,775 4,009
4 Washington 485 1,044 1,724 2,125 2,756
5 Detroit 902 2,068 2,460 2,606 2,669
6 Philadelphia 850 1,632 2,072 2,424 2,636
7 San Francisco-Oakland 862 1,323 1,911 2,173 2,534
8 Boston 1,432 1,716 2,012 2,116 2,201
9 Atlanta 176 281 675 1,188 1,763
10 Dallas-Fort Worth 142 399 778 1,162 1,743
11 Miami 210 561 885 1,261 1,556
12 St. Louis 544 918 1,261 1,396 1,550
13 Minneapolis-St. Paul 154 581 957 1,147 1,440
14 Pittsburgh 856 1,200 1,326 1,386 1,308
15 Houston 105 202 447 817 1,272
16 San Diego 99 263 504 857 1,237
17 Seattle 154 307 708 898 1,228
18 Tampa-St. Petersburg 89 170 369 843 1,190
19 Cleveland 469 909 1,209 1,178 1,171
20 Baltimore 212 480 674 968 1,154
21 Fort Lauderdale 0 201 474 855 1,089
22 Norfolk 91 202 360 503 1,062
23 Denver 83 310 532 860 1,050
24 Phoenix 110 113 281 619 1,023
25 Riverside-San Bernardino 73 202 340 417 1,006
26 Cincinnati 309 491 658 738 848
27 Kansas City 241 445 600 652 840
28 Portland 139 279 442 660 745
29 Sacramento 74 260 387 520 728
30 San Jose 81 399 581 615 653
31 Buffalo 315 521 624 644 626
32 Milwaukee 192 409 535 571 598
33 New Orleans 90 217 371 521 543
34 San Antonio 42 54 119 159 193
LAND AREA          
Rank Urbanized Area 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990
1 New York 951 1,590 2,123 2,506 2,658
2 Los Angeles 420 915 1,108 1,361 1,497
3 Chicago 500 736 1,053 1,271 1,358
4 Philadelphia 185 470 623 880 1,029
5 Atlanta 69 118 303 773 1,005
6 Detroit 284 593 733 905 980
7 Minneapolis-St. Paul 124 550 614 873 955
8 Washington 117 280 434 746 884
9 Dallas-Fort Worth 56 499 600 707 857
10 Boston 298 469 617 810 843
11 San Francisco-Oakland 189 472 581 696 771
12 Pittsburgh 200 471 541 658 722
13 St. Louis 167 262 400 536 666
14 Norfolk 24 59 246 365 610
15 Houston 110 103 142 493 606
16 Cleveland 225 511 570 552 559
17 Kansas City 68 152 254 368 533
18 Baltimore 72 140 230 443 512
19 Seattle 52 154 329 340 504
20 Tampa-St. Petersburg 57 79 152 388 482
21 Phoenix 38 61 140 317 458
22 Cincinnati 71 165 258 343 435
23 Milwaukee 52 301 362 400 416
24 San Diego 34 84 168 343 366
25 Denver 43 105 198 328 348
26 Riverside-San Bernardino 41 103 194 234 327
27 Miami 83 149 225 306 317
28 Fort Lauderdale 0 95 183 260 296
29 Portland 50 125 178 246 263
30 Buffalo 84 121 173 225 245
31 Sacramento 25 92 160 182 238
32 New Orleans 23 68 98 143 183
33 San Jose 44 168 161 168 167
34 San Antonio 20 31 39 91 105
DENSITY          
Rank Urbanized Area 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990
1 Los Angeles 4,826 4,383 4,995 4,785 5,290
2 Miami 2,530 3,765 3,933 4,121 4,902
3 San Jose 1,841 2,375 3,609 3,661 3,917
4 Fort Lauderdale --- 2,116 2,590 3,288 3,684
5 San Diego 2,912 3,131 3,000 2,499 3,380
6 San Francisco-Oakland 4,561 2,803 3,289 3,122 3,286
7 New York 4,631 3,983 3,915 3,399 3,281
8 Washington 4,145 3,729 3,972 2,849 3,119
9 Riverside-San Bernardino 1,780 1,961 1,753 1,782 3,075
10 Sacramento 2,960 2,826 2,419 2,857 3,063
11 Denver 1,930 2,952 2,687 2,622 3,017
12 New Orleans 3,913 3,191 3,786 3,654 2,974
13 Chicago 2,600 3,273 3,179 2,971 2,953
14 Portland 2,780 2,232 2,483 2,683 2,829
15 Detroit 3,173 3,486 3,355 2,879 2,723
16 Boston 4,805 3,659 3,261 2,612 2,612
17 Philadelphia 4,595 3,472 3,326 2,755 2,562
18 Buffalo 3,750 4,306 3,599 2,857 2,551
19 Tampa-St. Petersburg 1,561 2,152 2,428 2,173 2,468
20 Seattle 2,962 1,992 2,151 2,640 2,436
21 St. Louis 3,257 3,504 3,153 2,604 2,327
22 Baltimore 2,944 3,429 2,930 2,185 2,253
23 Phoenix 2,895 1,852 2,007 1,953 2,234
24 Houston 955 1,961 3,148 1,657 2,100
25 Cleveland 2,084 1,779 2,121 2,134 2,095
26 Dallas-Fort Worth 2,536 800 1,297 1,644 2,033
27 Cincinnati 4,352 2,976 2,552 2,153 1,950
28 San Antonio 2,100 1,742 3,051 1,747 1,838
29 Pittsburgh 4,280 2,548 2,451 2,106 1,811
30 Atlanta 2,551 2,381 2,226 1,536 1,754
31 Norfolk 3,792 3,424 1,463 1,378 1,740
32 Kansas City 3,544 2,928 2,362 1,772 1,577
33 Minneapolis-St. Paul 1,242 1,056 1,559 1,314 1,507
34 Milwaukee 3,692 1,359 1,478 1,428 1,438
CHANGE IN POPULATION          
Rank Urbanized Area 1950-1990 1950-1960 1960-1970 1970-1980 1980-1990
1 Riverside-San Bernardino 1278.1% 176.7% 68.3% 22.6% 141.2%
2 Tampa-St. Petersburg 1237.1% 91.0% 117.1% 128.5% 41.2%
3 Denver 1165.1% 273.5% 71.6% 61.7% 22.1%
4 San Diego 1149.5% 165.7% 91.6% 70.0% 44.3%
5 Dallas-Fort Worth 1127.5% 181.0% 95.0% 49.4% 50.0%
6 Houston 1111.4% 92.4% 121.3% 82.8% 55.7%
7 Norfolk 1067.0% 122.0% 78.2% 39.7% 111.1%
8 Atlanta 901.7% 59.7% 140.2% 76.0% 48.4%
9 Sacramento 883.8% 251.4% 48.8% 34.4% 40.0%
10 Minneapolis-St. Paul 835.1% 277.3% 64.7% 19.9% 25.5%
11 Phoenix 830.0% 2.7% 148.7% 120.3% 65.3%
12 San Jose 706.2% 392.6% 45.6% 5.9% 6.2%
13 Seattle 697.4% 99.4% 130.6% 26.8% 36.7%
14 Miami 641.0% 167.1% 57.8% 42.5% 23.4%
15 New Orleans 503.3% 141.1% 71.0% 40.4% 4.2%
16 Washington 468.2% 115.3% 65.1% 23.3% 29.7%
17 Baltimore 444.3% 126.4% 40.4% 43.6% 19.2%
18 Portland 436.0% 100.7% 58.4% 49.3% 12.9%
19 San Antonio 359.5% 28.6% 120.4% 33.6% 21.4%
20 Los Angeles 290.6% 97.8% 38.0% 17.7% 21.6%
21 Kansas City 248.5% 84.6% 34.8% 8.7% 28.8%
22 Milwaukee 211.5% 113.0% 30.8% 6.7% 4.7%
23 Philadelphia 210.1% 92.0% 27.0% 17.0% 8.7%
24 Chicago 208.4% 85.3% 39.0% 12.8% 6.2%
25 Detroit 195.9% 129.3% 19.0% 5.9% 2.4%
26 San Francisco-Oakland 194.0% 53.5% 44.4% 13.7% 16.6%
27 St. Louis 184.9% 68.8% 37.4% 10.7% 11.0%
28 Cincinnati 174.4% 58.9% 34.0% 12.2% 14.9%
29 Cleveland 149.7% 93.8% 33.0% -2.6% -0.6%
30 Buffalo 98.7% 65.4% 19.8% 3.2% -2.8%
31 New York 98.0% 43.8% 31.2% 2.5% 2.4%
32 Boston 53.7% 19.8% 17.2% 5.2% 4.0%
33 Pittsburgh 52.8% 40.2% 10.5% 4.5% -5.6%
34 Fort Lauderdale --- --- 135.8% 80.4% 27.4%
CHANGE: LAND AREA          
Rank Urbanized Area 1950-1990 1950-1960 1960-1970 1970-1980 1980-1990
1 Norfolk 2442.5% 145.8% 316.9% 48.4% 67.2%
2 Dallas-Fort Worth 1430.9% 791.1% 20.2% 17.8% 21.3%
3 Atlanta 1356.8% 71.0% 156.9% 155.0% 30.0%
4 Phoenix 1105.0% 60.5% 129.5% 126.4% 44.5%
5 San Diego 976.5% 147.1% 100.0% 104.2% 6.7%
6 Seattle 869.4% 196.3% 113.6% 3.3% 48.2%
7 Sacramento 850.8% 268.0% 73.9% 13.8% 30.6%
8 Tampa-St. Petersburg 745.8% 38.6% 92.4% 155.3% 24.3%
9 Denver 709.3% 144.2% 88.6% 65.7% 6.1%
10 Milwaukee 699.8% 478.8% 20.3% 10.5% 4.0%
11 Riverside-San Bernardino 698.0% 151.2% 88.3% 20.6% 39.8%
12 New Orleans 693.9% 195.7% 44.1% 45.5% 28.1%
13 Kansas City 683.2% 123.5% 67.1% 44.9% 44.7%
14 Minneapolis-St. Paul 670.4% 343.5% 11.6% 42.2% 9.4%
15 Washington 655.2% 139.3% 55.0% 71.9% 18.4%
16 Baltimore 611.4% 94.4% 64.3% 92.6% 15.6%
17 Cincinnati 512.4% 132.4% 56.2% 33.0% 26.8%
18 Philadelphia 456.2% 154.1% 32.6% 41.2% 16.9%
19 Houston 450.7% -6.4% 37.9% 247.2% 22.9%
20 Portland 426.6% 150.0% 42.4% 38.2% 7.0%
21 San Antonio 425.0% 55.0% 25.8% 133.3% 15.4%
22 San Francisco-Oakland 308.0% 149.7% 23.1% 19.8% 10.8%
23 St. Louis 298.9% 56.9% 52.7% 34.0% 24.3%
24 Miami 282.4% 79.5% 51.0% 36.0% 3.7%
25 San Jose 278.9% 281.8% -4.2% 4.3% -0.8%
26 Pittsburgh 261.2% 135.5% 14.9% 21.6% 9.8%
27 Los Angeles 256.4% 117.9% 21.1% 22.8% 10.0%
28 Detroit 244.8% 108.7% 23.6% 23.5% 8.3%
29 Buffalo 192.1% 44.0% 43.3% 30.0% 8.9%
30 Boston 182.8% 57.4% 31.6% 31.3% 4.0%
31 New York 179.5% 67.2% 33.5% 18.0% 6.1%
32 Chicago 171.6% 47.2% 43.1% 20.7% 6.8%
33 Cleveland 148.4% 127.1% 11.5% -3.2% 1.3%
34 Fort Lauderdale --- --- 92.6% 42.1% 13.7%
CHANGE: DENSITY          
Rank Urbanized Area 1950-1990 1950-1960 1960-1970 1970-1980 1980-1990
1 Houston 120.0% 105.5% 60.5% -47.4% 26.7%
2 San Jose 112.8% 29.0% 51.9% 1.4% 7.0%
3 Miami 93.8% 48.8% 4.5% 4.8% 19.0%
4 Riverside-San Bernardino 72.7% 10.1% -10.6% 1.7% 72.5%
5 Tampa-St. Petersburg 58.1% 37.8% 12.8% -10.5% 13.6%
6 Denver 56.3% 53.0% -9.0% -2.4% 15.1%
7 Minneapolis-St. Paul 21.4% -14.9% 47.5% -15.7% 14.7%
8 San Diego 16.1% 7.5% -4.2% -16.7% 35.3%
9 Chicago 13.6% 25.9% -2.9% -6.6% -0.6%
10 Los Angeles 9.6% -9.2% 14.0% -4.2% 10.6%
11 Sacramento 3.5% -4.5% -14.4% 18.1% 7.2%
12 Portland 1.8% -19.7% 11.3% 8.0% 5.5%
13 Cleveland 0.5% -14.7% 19.2% 0.6% -1.8%
14 San Antonio -12.5% -17.1% 75.2% -42.7% 5.2%
15 Detroit -14.2% 9.9% -3.8% -14.2% -5.4%
16 Seattle -17.7% -32.7% 8.0% 22.7% -7.7%
17 Dallas-Fort Worth -19.8% -68.5% 62.2% 26.8% 23.7%
18 Phoenix -22.8% -36.0% 8.4% -2.7% 14.4%
19 Baltimore -23.5% 16.4% -14.5% -25.4% 3.1%
20 New Orleans -24.0% -18.4% 18.6% -3.5% -18.6%
21 Washington -24.8% -10.1% 6.5% -28.3% 9.5%
22 San Francisco-Oakland -28.0% -38.5% 17.3% -5.1% 5.2%
23 St. Louis -28.6% 7.6% -10.0% -17.4% -10.7%
24 New York -29.1% -14.0% -1.7% -13.2% -3.5%
25 Atlanta -31.2% -6.6% -6.5% -31.0% 14.1%
26 Buffalo -32.0% 14.8% -16.4% -20.6% -10.7%
27 Philadelphia -44.2% -24.4% -4.2% -17.2% -7.0%
28 Boston -45.6% -23.9% -10.9% -19.9% -0.0%
29 Norfolk -54.1% -9.7% -57.3% -5.8% 26.3%
30 Cincinnati -55.2% -31.6% -14.2% -15.7% -9.4%
31 Kansas City -55.5% -17.4% -19.3% -25.0% -11.0%
32 Pittsburgh -57.7% -40.5% -3.8% -14.1% -14.0%
33 Milwaukee -61.1% -63.2% 8.8% -3.4% 0.7%
34 Fort Lauderdale --- --- 22.4% 27.0% 12.0%
PORTION OF U.A.          
Rank Urbanized Area 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990
1 Fort Lauderdale 100.0% 62.8% 77.2% 84.8% 88.0%
2 Riverside-San Bernardino 53.7% 53.4% 58.2% 59.1% 86.0%
3 Washington 37.7% 57.7% 69.5% 76.9% 82.0%
4 Atlanta 34.7% 36.6% 57.6% 73.7% 81.7%
5 Miami 45.8% 65.8% 72.5% 78.4% 81.3%
6 Norfolk 23.6% 39.8% 53.9% 65.3% 80.3%
7 St. Louis 38.8% 55.0% 67.0% 75.5% 79.6%
8 Boston 64.1% 71.1% 75.8% 79.0% 79.3%
9 Pittsburgh 55.8% 66.5% 71.8% 76.6% 77.9%
10 Detroit 32.8% 55.3% 61.9% 68.4% 72.2%
11 Seattle 24.8% 35.5% 57.2% 64.5% 70.4%
12 Cincinnati 38.0% 49.4% 59.2% 65.7% 70.0%
13 Cleveland 33.9% 50.9% 61.7% 67.2% 69.8%
14 San Francisco-Oakland 42.6% 54.4% 64.0% 68.1% 69.8%
15 Tampa-St. Petersburg 21.8% 27.1% 42.8% 62.3% 69.6%
16 Los Angeles 50.7% 61.8% 66.3% 68.7% 69.4%
17 Minneapolis-St. Paul 15.6% 42.2% 56.3% 64.1% 69.2%
18 Denver 16.6% 38.6% 50.8% 63.6% 69.2%
19 Sacramento 34.9% 57.5% 60.4% 65.3% 66.4%
20 Kansas City 34.5% 48.3% 54.4% 59.4% 65.9%
21 Buffalo 35.2% 49.4% 57.4% 64.3% 65.6%
22 Portland 27.1% 42.8% 53.6% 64.3% 63.6%
23 Philadelphia 29.1% 44.9% 51.5% 58.9% 62.4%
24 Baltimore 18.2% 33.8% 42.7% 55.2% 61.1%
25 Chicago 26.4% 40.4% 49.9% 55.7% 59.0%
26 Dallas-Fort Worth 16.6% 27.8% 38.6% 47.4% 54.5%
27 New York 35.8% 44.9% 51.3% 54.6% 54.4%
28 San Diego 22.9% 31.5% 42.1% 50.3% 52.7%
29 New Orleans 13.6% 25.7% 38.6% 48.3% 52.2%
30 Phoenix 50.9% 20.5% 32.6% 43.9% 51.0%
31 Milwaukee 23.2% 35.6% 42.7% 47.3% 48.8%
32 San Jose 46.0% 66.2% 56.7% 49.4% 45.5%
33 Houston 15.0% 17.7% 26.6% 33.9% 43.8%
34 San Antonio 9.3% 8.4% 15.4% 16.8% 17.1%
CHANGE IN PORTION          
Rank Urbanized Area 1950-1990 1950-1960 1960-1970 1970-1980 1980-1990
1 Minneapolis-St. Paul 343.7% 170.4% 33.3% 14.0% 7.9%
2 Denver 315.9% 131.8% 31.8% 25.2% 8.7%
3 New Orleans 282.9% 88.3% 50.2% 25.3% 8.0%
4 Norfolk 239.6% 68.2% 35.5% 21.2% 22.9%
5 Baltimore 234.7% 85.4% 26.1% 29.3% 10.7%
6 Dallas-Fort Worth 228.2% 67.4% 38.8% 22.8% 15.0%
7 Tampa-St. Petersburg 219.2% 24.3% 57.7% 45.7% 11.8%
8 Houston 192.6% 18.3% 50.3% 27.2% 29.4%
9 Seattle 184.4% 43.5% 60.9% 12.8% 9.1%
10 Atlanta 135.4% 5.4% 57.4% 27.9% 11.0%
11 Portland 134.6% 57.9% 25.2% 20.1% -1.2%
12 San Diego 130.4% 37.6% 33.7% 19.5% 4.8%
13 Chicago 123.4% 53.0% 23.3% 11.7% 6.0%
14 Detroit 120.3% 68.8% 12.0% 10.4% 5.5%
15 Washington 117.5% 53.2% 20.3% 10.7% 6.6%
16 Philadelphia 114.6% 54.3% 14.8% 14.4% 5.9%
17 Milwaukee 110.6% 53.6% 20.2% 10.7% 3.1%
18 Cleveland 106.1% 50.3% 21.1% 9.0% 3.9%
19 St. Louis 105.0% 41.7% 21.7% 12.7% 5.4%
20 Kansas City 90.8% 39.9% 12.7% 9.1% 10.9%
21 Sacramento 90.1% 64.8% 5.0% 8.2% 1.6%
22 Buffalo 86.4% 40.4% 16.1% 12.0% 2.1%
23 Cincinnati 84.1% 30.0% 19.9% 11.0% 6.5%
24 San Antonio 83.2% -9.9% 83.0% 9.3% 1.6%
25 Miami 77.6% 43.7% 10.3% 8.1% 3.6%
26 San Francisco-Oakland 63.7% 27.7% 17.5% 6.5% 2.5%
27 Riverside-San Bernardino 60.2% -0.4% 8.9% 1.6% 45.4%
28 Pittsburgh 39.6% 19.1% 8.0% 6.6% 1.8%
29 Boston 23.7% 10.9% 6.6% 4.1% 0.4%
30 Phoenix 0.1% -59.8% 59.1% 34.9% 16.1%
31 San Jose -1.1% 43.8% -14.3% -12.8% -8.0%
32 Fort Lauderdale --- --- 22.9% 9.9% 3.7%

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