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Listed below are the 4th largest cities (by population) of each state.
It's interesting looking at how much of a difference there is between the 4th largest cities of each state. Some are huge metropolises, some are small towns, some tourism destinations, some you may have never heard of, some are the core city of their region, others are just incorporated suburbs.
AL: Huntsville
AK: Sitka
AZ: Chandler
AR: Springdale
CA: San Francisco
CO: Fort Collins
CT: Stamford
DE: Middletown
FL: Orlando
GA: Macon
HI: Hilo (CDP)
ID: Idaho Falls
IL: Rockford
IN: South Bend
IA: Sioux City
KS: Olathe
KY: Owensboro
LA: Lafayette
ME: Auburn
MD: Silver Spring (CDP)
MA: Lowell
MI: Sterling Heights
MN: Duluth
MS: Hattiesburg
MO: Columbia
MT: Bozeman
NE: Grand Island
NV: North Las Vegas
NH: Derry
NJ: Elizabeth
NM: Santa Fe
NY: Yonkers
NC: Durham
ND: Minot
OH: Toledo
OK: Broken Arrow
OR: Gresham
PA: Erie
RI: Pawtucket
SC: Mount Pleasant
SD: Brookings
TN: Chattanooga
TX: Austin
UT: West Jordan
VT: Barre
VA: Arlington (CDP/county)
WA: Vancouver
WV: Morgantown
WI: Kenosha
WY: Gilette
What immediately sticks out to me after canvassing the entire list is that California, Texas, and Florida are the only states amongst the 50 states that have legitimate and bonafide cities as their 4th largest city-propers. As in their 4th largest cities are centers of population in metropolitan areas of multi-million people. I personally consider a city that can anchor a population center of over 1 million to be the start of something along the lines of a bigtime city.
For all 47 of the other states, their 4th largest cities are either a smalltown, a college town, or some suburb and/or satellite city within a broader and larger metropolitan region centered around a much bigger and more important city.
Last edited by Trafalgar Law; 10-15-2017 at 02:20 PM..
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Great thread idea, though this listing is by city proper and not metro area. This works for the vast majority of our states, so the OP is fine, but it does seem to hamper New York, as Albany is really 4th in that state, not Yonkers (an NYC suburb/extension, essentially). Huntsville is also really #2 in Alabama, while Montgomery is viewed as #4. There may be other examples (Sacramento is really California's 4th city), but these two immediately stuck out to me. Still, city proper works fine for most states and this is a great idea.
What immediately sticks out to me after canvassing the entire list is that California, Texas, and Florida are the only states amongst the 50 states that have legitimate and bonafide cities as their 4th largest city-propers. As in their 4th largest cities are centers of population in metropolitan areas of multi-million people. I personally consider a city that can anchor a population center of over 1 million to be the start of something along the lines of a bigtime city.
For all 47 of the other states, their 4th largest cities are either a smalltown, a college town, or some suburb and/or satellite city within a broader and larger metropolitan region centered around a much bigger and more important city.
Virginia is an odd duck because of the role DC plays on the northern half of the state. Richmond is technically its 5th bi
most populous city, but it anchors a metro of over a million.
What immediately sticks out to me after canvassing the entire list is that California, Texas, and Florida are the only states amongst the 50 states that have legitimate and bonafide cities as their 4th largest city-propers. As in their 4th largest cities are centers of population in metropolitan areas of multi-million people. I personally consider a city that can anchor a population center of over 1 million to be the start of something along the lines of a bigtime city.
For all 47 of the other states, their 4th largest cities are either a smalltown, a college town, or some suburb and/or satellite city within a broader and larger metropolitan region centered around a much bigger and more important city.
In South Carolina's case, yes the 4th largest city is a large suburb, but that's only because of SC's antiquated annex laws. If SC had the same laws as NC then an anchor city would be #4. City limits are crazy.
Still interesting thread. San Francisco on the same field as Macon, GA...
I live in Erie, PA. Rust belt city of 98,000, metro of ~280,000, sitting on Lake Erie. We are two hours from Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo. We are kind of the odd duck when it comes to PA cities because:
1. We are on a lake (a Great Lake at that)
2. Erie is probably the flattest city in PA, more like Ohio or Indiana
3. We are culturally distinct from the rest PA
4. We are particularly far from a lot of PA cities (Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Allentown, Scranton). In fact I always found it weird I could get to Indianapolis faster than Philadelphia
5. We get a ton of snow (lake effect)
But at the end of the day, I love where I live. We have so many wineries, freshwater beaches, a great Bayfront and so much more.
What immediately sticks out to me after canvassing the entire list is that California, Texas, and Florida are the only states amongst the 50 states that have legitimate and bonafide cities as their 4th largest city-propers. As in their 4th largest cities are centers of population in metropolitan areas of multi-million people. I personally consider a city that can anchor a population center of over 1 million to be the start of something along the lines of a bigtime city.
For all 47 of the other states, their 4th largest cities are either a smalltown, a college town, or some suburb and/or satellite city within a broader and larger metropolitan region centered around a much bigger and more important city.
Why, though, would that be surprising? California, Texas and Florida, are among the top 5 states in population. Personally, there are too many people in Florida for its size...I've thought that for a long time.
Why, though, would that be surprising? California, Texas and Florida, are among the top 5 states in population. Personally, there are too many people in Florida for its size...I've thought that for a long time.
Not to mention the fact that Texas and California are 2 and 3 in land area. San Diego to San Francisco is longer than Bos-Wash.
AL: Huntsville (Mobile is actually #4 now. Huntsville passed them since the Census. Huntsville is actually likely to become #1 in Alabama in the next 10 years)
AK: Sitka (Sitka is #5. Wasilla is #4. And that excludes Badgar, Knik-Fairview, and College which are all CDPs larger than Wasilla)
AZ: Chandler (will move to 7th place by 2020, as Scottsdale, Gilbert and Glendale are growing by more-and are barely behind)
AR: Springdale (in a tight race with Jonesboro - also booming)
CA: San Francisco (will be #4 for a long time)
CO: Fort Collins (will be #4 for a long time)
CT: Stamford (Hartford is now #4. Stamford is #3 and nearly assured of #2 status by 2020)
DE: Middletown (will be #4 for a long time)
FL: Orlando (will be #4 for a long time)
GA: Macon (Savannah will pass Macon for #4 within the next 3 years)
HI: Hilo (CDP) (will be #4 for a long time. This state has some weird municipal shenanigans going on. Technically Honolulu has around 950,000 people but the state petitioned the Census Bureau to break up Oahu into CDPs even though Oahu is governed by same person as Honolulu - Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu)
ID: Idaho Falls (will be #4 for another 15 years unless Caldwell's boom accelerates)
IL: Rockford (is going to be #5 when the 2017 estimates come out - Naperville is growing faster)
IN: South Bend (could fall to #6 by 2020 given the fast growth in Carmel and Fisher - northern Indy suburbs)
IA: Sioux City (will be #4 through the next Census, but Iowa City will be #4 shortly thereafter)
KS: Olathe (will be #4 for a long time unless Kansas City (#3) collapses in growth again. Kansas is a weird state with a lot of large suburbs)
KY: Owensboro (will be #4 for a long time)
LA: Lafayette (Metairie is #4 if you count CDPs)
ME: Auburn (no, South Portland is #4. Auburn is #5)
MD: Silver Spring (CDP) (Maryland has a ton of CDPs and boundary changes in 2020 will likely determine who is #4 in the 2020s - Maryland has 9 cities + CDPs in the 60-75k range. So it's a total crapshoot)
MA: Lowell (now Cambridge. But Lowell will be #5 for a while)
MI: Sterling Heights (will be #4 through the 2020s. Ann Arbor will pass them sometime in the next 15 years though)
MN: Duluth (will be #5 in 2020 since Bloomington should pass them next year (2018). Minnesota has 11 cities (mostly Twin Cities suburbs) in the 60-80k range. So I wouldn't be surprised if Duluth falls to #15 within the next 25 years. It's living on borrowed time.
MS: Hattiesburg (could fall to #5 by 2020 if Biloxi's growth continues)
MO: Columbia (will be #4 for a long time)
MT: Bozeman (Bozeman could be #3 by 2030)
NE: Grand Island (could challenge Bellevue for #3 status in the 2020s)
NV: North Las Vegas (Reno is #4, NLV is #5 if you count Paradise CDP (#3))
NH: Derry (I assume you meant Dover. Derry is #7)
NJ: Elizabeth (will be #4 for a long time)
NM: Santa Fe (will be #4 for a long time)
NY: Yonkers (will be #4 for a long time - unless Rochester's decline continues, then Yonkers could become #3 in the next 15 years)
NC: Durham (will be #4 for a long time - could rival Greensboro in the 2030s for #3)
ND: Minot (if the Oil Exodus continues and Minot's population craters, West Fargo could compete in the next 10 years)
OH: Toledo (will be #4 for a long time)
OK: Broken Arrow (will be #4 for a long time)
OR: Gresham (could fall to #5 by 2020. A close one with Hillsboro)
PA: Erie (will be #4 for a long time)
RI: Pawtucket (will be #4 for a long time)
SC: Mount Pleasant (will be #4 for a long time)
SD: Brookings (will be #4 for a long time)
TN: Chattanooga (will be #4 for a long time)
TX: Austin (will be #4 for a long time)
UT: West Jordan (remarkably could oust Provo by 2020 and become #3)
VT: Barre (Barre is #6 if you include the 'villages' which are de facto cities)
VA: Arlington (CDP/county) (Arlington could become #3 by 2020 if Chesapeake's growth doesn't accelarate)
WA: Vancouver (will be #4 for a long time)
WV: Morgantown (Morgantown is now #3. It's basically the only part of WV (excl. the DC suburbs) that isn't collapsing. Parkersburg is now #4).
WI: Kenosha (will be #4 for a long time)
WY: Gilette (Gillette is now #3. Laramie is #4 and will be that way for a while)
I personally consider a city that can anchor a population center of over 1 million to be the start of something along the lines of a bigtime city.
For all 47 of the other states, their 4th largest cities are either a smalltown, a college town, or some suburb and/or satellite city within a broader and larger metropolitan region centered around a much bigger and more important city.
Well, yes, obviously. The U.S. only has slightly greater than 50 metro areas of population ~1 million or greater--you can't really be that surprised then, once you look at a curated list of the fourth-largest cities of all 50 states, can you?
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