Skyscraper Comparison in US Cities 800k - 1 Million Metro Area Population (state, place)

[jjbradleynyc]

Thought I'd segment this out, in order to see a good snapshot of metro areas in the US in the 800,000 to 1 million range, and the number of skyscrapers each has in 2020.

Numbers are for completed skyscrapers, and then in parentheses, a rough under construction count. I used wikipedia as a source, and I realize it may be off by a few for each city.

For skyscrapers, I'm including 300 feet or higher only, as a baseline.*Metro area populations are for 2018 estimates.

Sorted by highest number of completed skyscrapers to least number of completed:


1. Honolulu, HI: 980k
Skyscrapers: 45+
(under construction 1)

2. Tulsa, OK: 993k
Skyscrapers: 11
(under construction none currently)

3. Dayton-Kettering, OH: 806k
Skyscrapers: 5
(under construction none currently)

4. Omaha, NE: 942k
Skyscrapers: 4
(under construction none currently)

5. Alabany-Schenectedy-Troy, NY: 883k
Skyscrapers: 3
(under construction none currently)

6. New Haven-Milford, CT: 857k
Skyscrapers: 3
(under construction none currently)

7. Columbia, SC: 832k
Skyscrapers: 3
(under construction none currently)

8. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT: 943k
Skyscrapers (Stamford): 2
(under construction none currently)

9. Knoxville, TN: 883k
Skyscrapers: 2
(under construction none currently)

10. Baton Rouge, LA: 831k
Skyscrapers: 2
(under construction none currently)

11. El Paso, TX: 845k
Skyscrapers: 1
(under construction 1)

12. Albuquerque, NM: 915k
Skyscrapers: 1
(under construction none currently)

13. Greenville-Anderson, SC: 906k
Skyscrapers: 1
(under construction none currently)

14. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA: 842k
Skyscrapers: 1
(under construction none currently)

15. Fresno, CA: 994k
Skyscrapers: zoning does not allow over 250 ft
(under construction 0)

16. Worcester, MA: 947k
Skyscrapers: 0, zoning restricts over 300 ft
(under construction none currently)

17. Bakersfield, CA: 896k
Skyscrapers: 0, zoning restricts over 300 ft
(under construction none currently)

18. McCallen-Edinburgh-Mission, TX: 866k
Skyscrapers: 0, zoning restricts over 300 ft
(under construction none currently)

19. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA: 851k
Skyscrapers: 0, zoning restricts over 300 ft
(under construction none currently)

20. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL: 821k
Skyscrapers: 0, zoning restricts over 300 ft
(under construction none currently)


Observations:

*Honolulu is in a skyscraper class with much larger metro areas like Denver, Minneapolis, San Diego, etc., far surpassing any city in this segment
*Rust belt cities in this segment have a far more dense and tall showing for now, than newer suburban sunbelt cities
*Many more zoning restrictions for cities in this segment, surprisingly, limiting skyscraper height downtown
*Stamford, CT has added super nice density downtown in the past decade, with only 1 surpassing 300 ft, but several 150-300 ft high

[ABQalex]

Tulsa is the most impressive to me on this list. It's mostly office buildings, as opposed to Honolulu with mostly apartments and hotels. Those are mostly due to Honolulu's huge tourist sector. There are only two office buildings among that list for Honolulu, which is completely in line with the other metro areas in this category.

[TacoSoup]

It hardly seems fair to have Honolulu with this group. Their skyline is one of the tops in the nation in numbers, who cares if it’s mostly residential/hotels (they’re still tall buildings), and with the ocean and mountains makes its one of the most scenic in the world.

Excluding Honolulu, I’ll take Albany, NY. While not a skyscraper, it’s Capitol building is absolutely beautiful and makes it’s downtown really standout. It’s in a real beautiful part of the state as well.

[Shakeesha]

Tulsa is number 1. Knoxville is last place for me.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

16. Worcester, MA: 947k
Skyscrapers: 0, zoning restricts over 300 ft
(under construction none currently)

Huh, I never knew this. On one hand, I don’t think Worcester has the demand for buildings taller than 300ft. On the other, it’s a little sad that such buildings couldn’t be built even if they were feasible.

[Mutiny77]

Although height restrictions preclude the construction of skyscrapers and thus it lacks a traditional skyline, Charleston's MSA population is now just above 800K.

If the MSA threshold for this list were 675K, Winston-Salem and Little Rock would have been included, both of which have more 300 ft+ tall buildings than most others on this list (five for Winston-Salem and six for Little Rock).

[Mighty Joe Young]

Omaha ranks within the top 3 in this population category in my opinion.

[grega94]

According to Emporis, Honolulu has 88 existing buildings over 300 ft.

For comparison Seattle only has 72

*Emporis lists telecom and observation towers so I had to subtract those out.