What the 50 biggest cities in America looked like 50 years ago

- 2023 population estimate: 398,431 people

Arlington more than doubled its population between 1980 and 2000. Possible reasons for its surge in population in recent years could be the 1972 relocation of the Washington Senators baseball team (now Texas Rangers) to what is currently known as Ameriquest Stadium and resulting economic growth, or the stadium for the Dallas Cowboys that was completed in 2009.

- 2023 population estimate: 403,364 people

After a surge in population growth in the 1950s and '60s, Tampa saw a leveling off, but it continues to outpace the national average for growth. Much of its recent increase in population can be attributed to new arrivals, while in the past, the influence of Disney World on the central Florida economy could have caused the influx of new residents.

- 2023 population estimate: 411,894 people

Tulsa has grown significantly since 1925, when it became a rest stop on Route 66, the interstate highway connecting California and Chicago. Between 1960 and 1980 it underwent a period of urban renewal, where the city was granted eminent domain for the acquisition of property to develop new real estate. After the 1982 oil bust, Tulsa was forced to diversify its economy and even survived the early 2000s economic recession, buoyed by low housing prices relative to other parts of the country.

- 2023 population estimate: 413,381 people

The ninth-largest city in California has been seeing a population boom as of late, despite the Golden State's overall population trending downward. It also saw the most significant population growth from 2023 to 2024 at 0.8%, according to the California Finance Department. New residents have been flocking to Bakersfield from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Orange County, looking for a quieter pace of life.

- 2023 population estimate: 425,115 people

The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul saw a peak in population growth in the 1950s, at 521,718, which eventually stabilized by about 1990. The population of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, on the other hand, has increased quickly as residents have relocated from the city to surrounding suburbs. Though there has traditionally been a large European (especially Scandinavian) flavor to the area, there has been increased ethnic diversification in recent years, with about 20% of the population identifying as Black.

- 2023 population estimate: 436,504 people

Oakland is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the U.S.; the San Francisco Bay Area city ranked among the top 15 on ethnoracial diversity on WalletHub's 2024 list. The Black population peaked at 47% of Oakland's total population in 1980 but has since declined to 28% as of the 2010 Census.

- 2023 population estimate: 449,468 people

Southern California's Long Beach has seen a slow population increase in recent years. Like in much of the rest of the region, there has been a steady decline in the percentage of the population that comprises non-Latino whites since the 1970s, from nearly 90% in 1970 to less than 50% as of the 2010 Census.

- 2023 population estimate: 453,649 people

Virginia Beach is seeing a slowdown in population growth in recent years, part of a statewide trend. Experts attribute this to, among other things, a death-to-birth imbalance in the state and the fact that retirees are not moving there.

- 2023 population estimate: 455,924 people

Miami has historically been a city of immigrants and strong cultural influences. In the 1970s and 1980s, many Haitians and Nicaraguans fled to Florida after their countries' governments were overthrown, with an influx of Cubans following. The African-American and Caribbean populations made up approximately one-third of the city's population prior to these surges.

- 2023 population estimate: 482,295 people

Raleigh's population has grown by leaps and bounds since 1970, when it was 122,870, to today, when it is nearly quadruple that number. Some possible reasons for this growth include the 1987 bond proposals for improvements to the city, including a baseball stadium and a $40 million road program, and the 1991 opening of Walnut Creek Amphitheatre, a $13.5 million entertainment complex.

- 2023 population estimate: 483,335 people

Despite a 1975 tornado that inflicted between $250 and $500 million worth of damage to Omaha, the city has seen a rise in population since the 1970s. While 1970 estimates were around 346,929 people, the current estimate is 483,335.

- 2023 population estimate: 488,664 people

Initially, a Victorian resort town in the Old West, Colorado Springs has evolved into a military base as home to the U.S. Air Force Academy and a large university town. The population of the area has grown steadily from 283,308 in 1990 to an estimated 488,664 today.

- 2023 population estimate: 510,704 people

On the border between Kansas and Missouri, Kansas City expanded rapidly after the Civil War because of the strategic placement of railroads and became a hub for Black folks who settled there. The city has continued to grow since then, due to public housing, and growth has expanded to the suburbs rather than downtown.

- 2023 population estimate: 510,823 people

A capital city of the Southeast and one hub of the national civil rights movement, Atlanta has experienced tremendous growth in the past few decades. The metro area in particular has grown exponentially between 2010 and the present, from 2.9 million to 6.3 million as of 2023.

- 2023 population estimate: 511,648 people

Mesa, now the third-largest city in Arizona, had humble beginnings but has grown exponentially nearly every decennial Census through 1990. The city grew 89% from 1980 to 1990 and continues to draw people to its strong retail-based economy in the larger Phoenix-Mesa Metropolitan Statistical Area.

- 2023 population estimate: 526,384 people

Sacramento's population has increased over the past 30 years, from just under 400,000 in 1990 to just over 526,000 today. It's a racially diverse area, with only 39% of the population identifying as solely white, compared to 75% in the United States overall.

- 2023 population estimate: 545,716 people

Fresno experienced California's statewide trend of outward domestic migration between 2010 and 2018. Still, the city's population increased overall because of higher birth rates than death rates and international migration, according to the Census Bureau.

- 2023 population estimate: 547,239 people

The Old Pueblo, as Tucson is known, is about 115 miles southeast of Phoenix. The city's dry, sunny climate draws tourists and retirees alike in addition to new residents each year—it grew almost fourfold between 1950 and 1960 and continues to climb.

- 2023 population estimate: 560,274 people

Officially founded in 1706, the city of Albuquerque had Pueblo roots for hundreds of years before its official settlement by the Europeans. It's well-known for its economic emphasis on technology, including Sandia National Labs, which opened in 1949, and draws worldwide recognition for the International Balloon Fiesta, which started in 1972.

- 2023 population estimate: 561,385 people

Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin, was discovered by the French explorer Marquette in the 1600s but started to experience settlement beyond simply fur traders in the mid-1800s. The rise of factories and the accompanying economic opportunities drew Black residents from elsewhere in the U.S.—in the 1960s, 15% of the population was Black—but the city remains largely segregated.

- 2023 population estimate: 565,239 people

Baltimore underwent a steady population decline in the 1950s and '60s as people began to migrate out of the city itself and into the surrounding suburbs, both because of the relocation of the centers of shopping and industry and because they were forced to move due to demolition of their residences. Overall, the city has lost more than a third of its population in the past 60 years because of these developments.

- 2023 population estimate: 618,639 people

Home to the late Elvis Presley, Memphis has experienced a decline in growth in recent years while its neighboring city of Nashville outpaces it in terms of expansion.

- 2023 population estimate: 622,981 people

Louisville merged with surrounding Jefferson County in January 2003, making it the 16th-largest city in the country when it had previously been the 67th largest. As a result, the city named for King Louis XIV of France nearly tripled its population overnight.

- 2023 population estimate: 630,498 people

Portland saw significant gentrification after the Great Recession of the mid-2000s, which changed the makeup of the city. After nearly a decade of growth between 2010 and 2020, the city is now experiencing an exodus, with residents seeking more affordable housing and a lower cost of living.

- 2023 population estimate: 633,218 people

Detroit's population has been on the decline for the past half-century, and concerns about Michigan's representation in Congress are afoot. The state is seeing more of a reshuffling of long-term residents than an influx of new ones,.

- 2023 population estimate: 653,833 people

The state of Massachusetts saw a .2% population drop between 2000 and 2022 and Boston was hit particularly hard. Its population was down 3.7% between 2020 and 2023. 

- 2023 population estimate: 660,929 people

Known for its bright lights, casinos, and larger-than-life persona, Las Vegas is also home to a booming population, in part because of the 1987 expansion of McCarran International Airport, which cost a cool $300 million and created thousands of new jobs in the area. The Las Vegas metropolitan area contains about three-fourths of the Nevada population.

- 2023 population estimate: 678,958 people

Although its population grew at a rate of 7.8% annually between 1950 and 1960, the numbers have dropped off in El Paso, and the population growth rate hit an eight-decade low in 2019. Journalists and others attribute this migration away from El Paso to a lack of job opportunities—those with a college education or higher seek higher wages outside the city, and those with below a college-level education seek work outside the city as well.

- 2023 population estimate: 678,972 people

The U.S. capital experienced a steady growth rate, some of which could be attributed to international and domestic migration as well as natural increase (i.e., a higher birth rate than death rate), part of a decade-long upward trend in the city.

- 2023 population estimate: 687,788 people

Music City is more than the home of country music; its industries include education, manufacturing, and publishing and printing. The state of Tennessee has been growing in population in the past few years, and its capital city continues to play a major role in attracting new residents.

- 2023 population estimate: 702,767 people

Despite migration from the city to suburban areas in the 1960s (when the oil that had been a source of wealth in the area dried up), the population of Oklahoma City has steadily been increasing since the 1970s. Renovations proposed by Mayor Ron Norick in the early 1990s helped to revitalize the downtown area, and even the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 did not deter new residents.

- 2023 population estimate: 716,577 people

Denver has experienced explosive population growth since the 1990s, creating a long-running population boom that mirrors that of the state of Colorado as a whole. Having surpassed the 715,000 mark in 2020, the city continues to grow with few signs of slowing soon.

- 2023 population estimate: 755,078 people

Seattle is making headlines as the fastest-growing big city in all the U.S. In the past year, the rainy city has grown by 2.4%, outpacing its fellow trendsetter, Austin.

- 2023 population estimate: 808,988 people

San Francisco was growing at a rate of 10,000–14,000 residents per year on average in the pre-pandemic decade, thanks to mild weather, cultural scene, and tech jobs. But that's since changed—its population dropped 7.4% between 2020 and 2023.

- 2023 population estimate: 879,293 people

Population growth in Indiana has been slow but steady in recent years; this can be attributed to migration from other states as well as a higher birth than death rate. In 2017, approximately 23,000 new residents joined the Indianapolis metro area, and the region is the primary driver of population growth in the state.

- 2023 population estimate: 911,311 people

Charlotte has one of the fastest growth rates of any U.S. city—59.6% in the decade that ended in 2019, to be precise. New residents are drawn to the bustling economy, as well as the low cost of living and livability of the city.

- 2023 population estimate: 913,175 people

Unlike many of its neighbors in the Midwest, Columbus has gained residents and kept up with the pace of some of the fast-growing cities in the Sun Belt or PNW. Many cities in the Midwest have experienced a downturn in population since the 1960s, but the population in Columbus has nearly doubled, perhaps due to a strong housing market and income growth, both of which attract young professionals.

- 2023 population estimate: 969,655 people

The third-largest city in California behind Los Angeles and San Diego, San Jose is a diverse community where the primary language spoken at home is English, at 43%, followed by Spanish and Asian/Pacific Island languages evenly split at around 25% each. 

- 2023 population estimate: 978,468 people

Fort Worth, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, gained 1 million new residents in the years 2010–2018, the fastest growth of any metropolitan area in the country. The state has prepared for this level of growth in DFW and the surrounding suburbs by laying smart infrastructure that will enable residents to get to and from work easily and passing bills limiting property taxes.

- 2023 population estimate: 979,882 people

The population of Austin has nearly doubled from its count of approximately 497,000 in 1990 to what it is today. In 2019, there were about 100 people per day moving to the city.

- 2023 population estimate: 985,843 people

The city of Jacksonville, known as the River City, grew at a faster rate than Miami in 2023. The growth rate has been just under 10% since 2010, about half of which includes newcomers from international locations.

- 2023 population estimate: 1,302,868 people

The Lone Star State's DFW metro area has experienced tremendous growth in recent years; from 2010–2018, more than 1 million people moved to the region, part of a larger trend in Texas as a whole. However, the rural areas in the state are suffering as emphasis and influence moves to the cities.

- 2023 population estimate: 1,388,320 people

San Diego's proximity to Mexico and its economy's global-recruitment capabilities make it one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse places in the country, in addition to being the home of just under 1.4 million people. Its recent growth places it among an elite few cities that are high in both population and growth.

- 2023 population estimate: 1,495,295 people

As with other cities that are experiencing large population growth, San Antonio's leaders must plan well to make way for the thousands of new residents coming in every year. The city has traditionally been a place for history and is the home of the Alamo.

- 2023 population estimate: 1,550,542 people

After 30 years of population losses that began in the 1970s, the birthplace of America has experienced slow growth in recent years. Despite 12 years of increases in population, there are more people leaving the city than coming in, making for a net loss.

- 2023 population estimate: 1,650,070 people

In 2019, Phoenix was the fastest-growing city in the country, adding more than 25,000 new residents between 2017 and 2018. Much of that activity centered around jobs from big tech and manufacturing firms.

- 2023 population estimate: 2,314,157 people

Though they're not growing at quite the same speed as Dallas, the combination of the Houston, Austin, and San Antonio metro areas brings in 85% of the new residents to the state. Despite the 2015 oil bust, which the Houston economy depends on, that there continues to be growth in the area is a good sign.

- 2023 population estimate: 2,664,452 people

Like many other cities in the Midwest, Chicago is actually losing population annually at a rate of about .9% on average. This is similar to metro areas including Los Angeles and New York, but it's happening at a faster rate in Chicago.

- 2023 population estimate: 3,820,914 people

Los Angeles has been both home to and the subject of many movies, but is it a great place to live? More and more people seem to be saying no, as the population has been shrinking in recent years; with the Golden Age of Hollywood many years in the past, the city is struggling with housing affordability and a lack of new home construction.

- 2023 population estimate: 8,258,035 people

The city that never sleeps is also the most populous in the U.S., but like Chicago, its population is shrinking. Recent data shows that the population fell between 2010 and 2018 as a result of domestic migration, which was not entirely offset by foreign immigration.