Top 200 Most Influential USA Urban Areas (NOT City Proper) (state, place, population)

[g500]

I want to make the ultimate Top 200 City Data Forum Influence List, but I need your input!

Below is my months-long attempt at ranking the Top 200 USA *URBAN AREAS* by overall socioeconomic, financial, cultural, historical, and political influence.

Please first read below footnotes regarding grouping/separations.

Feel free to include your comments, suggestions, and your own personalized ranking! What cities are too low or too high?

Edit: For those unfamiliar with the concept of urban area: here is a slightly outdated list from 2010 released by the U.S. Census (2020 will be coming soon): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...es_urban_areas

1. New York City
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Washington
5. San Francisco
6. Boston
7. Houston
8. Philadelphia
9. Atlanta
10. Dallas

11. Seattle
12. Miami
13. Minneapolis
14. Detroit
15. Denver
16. San Diego
17. San Jose
18. Phoenix
19. Baltimore
20. Charlotte

21. St. Louis
22. Portland
23. Tampa
24. Austin
25. Las Vegas
26. Orlando
27. Pittsburgh
28. Kansas City
29. Cleveland
30. Cincinnati

31. Riverside
32. Sacramento
33. Columbus
34. Nashville
35. New Orleans
36. Indianapolis
37. San Antonio
38. Milwaukee
39. West Palm Beach
40. Virginia Beach

41. Raleigh
42. Salt Lake City
43. Jacksonville
44. Richmond
45. Louisville
46. Bridgeport
47. Honolulu
48. Buffalo
49. Hartford
50. Providence

51. Memphis
52. Oklahoma City
53. Omaha
54. Rochester
55. Grand Rapids
56. Birmingham
57. Albany
58. Charleston, SC
59. Tulsa
60. Madison

61. Des Moines
62. Tucson
63. Knoxville
64. Fort Myers
65. Reno
66. Worcester
67. Syracuse
68. New Haven
69. Allentown
70. Sarasota

71. Albuquerque
72. Portland, ME
73. Boise
74. Tacoma
75. Boulder
76. Baton Rouge
77. Greenville
78. Durham
79. El Paso
80. Manchester, NH

81. Fresno
82. Colorado Springs
83. Greensboro
84. Dayton
85. Columbia, SC
86. Little Rock
87. Springfield, MA
88. Akron
89. Santa Rosa
90. Toledo

91. Wichita
92. Oxnard
93. Harrisburg
94. Trenton
95. Naples
96. Anchorage
97. Fayetteville, AR
98. Palm Bay
99. Winston-Salem
100. Spokane

101. Chattanooga
102. Huntsville
103. Savannah
104. Lancaster, PA
105. Midland
106. Stockton
107. Ann Arbor
108. Santa Barbara
109. Mobile
110. Lansing

111. Santa Cruz
112. Asheville
113. Denton
114. Bakersfield
115. Ogden
116. Palm Springs
117. Lexington, KY
118. Fort Collins
119. Jackson, MS
120. Poughkeepsie

121. Provo
122. Daytona Beach
123. Pensacola
124. Monterey
125. The Woodlands
126. McKinney
127. Scranton
128. Augusta, GA
129. Temecula
130. Fort Wayne

131. Corpus Christi
132. Peoria, IL
133. Burlington
134. Rockford
135. Lakeland
136. Roanoke
137. Reading, PA
138. South Bend
139. Tallahassee
140. Youngstown

141. Modesto
142. Sioux Falls
143. Eugene
144. Davenport
145. Myrtle Beach
146. Lincoln
147. San Clemente
148. Charlottesville
149. Barnstable Town
150. Port St. Lucie

151. Lafayette, LA
152. Santa Fe
153. Green Bay
154. Wilmington, NC
155. Springfield, MO
156. Gainesville
157. Flint
158. Salem, OR
159. Key West
160. Atlantic City

161. Kalamazoo
162. Shreveport
163. Canton
164. Fayetteville, NC
165. Santa Clarita
166. Lubbock
167. Springfield, IL
168. York, PA
169. Evansville
170. McAllen

171. Cedar Rapids
172. Olympia
173. Montgomery, AL
174. Victorville
175. Lancaster, CA
176. Amarillo
177. Thousand Oaks
178. Bremerton
179. Beaumont
180. Fargo

181. New London
182. Antioch
183. Rochester, MN
184. Greeley
185. College Station
186. Appleton
187. Laredo
188. Bend
189. Killeen
190. Vero Beach

191. Biloxi
192. Jackson, WY
193. Huntington, WV
194. Hickory
195. Utica
196. Columbus, GA
197. Bellingham
198. Billings
199. Charleston, WV
200. Tri-Cities, WA

Runner-ups (not in order):
Visalia, CA
Prescott, AZ
Abilene, TX
Tyler, TX
Waco, TX
Lake Charles, LA
Gulf Shores, AL
Destin, FL
Macon, GA
Hilton Head, SC
Spartanburg, SC
Hagerstown, MD
Erie, PA
State College, PA
Ithaca, NY
Binghampton, NY
Danbury, CT
Waterbury, CT
Duluth, MN
Champaign, IL
Lafayette, IN
Bloomington, IN

Combined:
Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Edison, Parsippany, New Brunswick, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Stamford with New York City
Long Beach, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine with Los Angeles
Aurora, Gary, Naperville with Chicago
Germantown, Upper Marlboro, Bowie, Herndon, Manassas, with Washington
Oakland, Palo Alto, Berkeley, Concord, Vallejo with San Francisco
Camden, Wilmington, Malvern with Philadelphia
San Bernardino, Ontario, CA with Riverside
Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano with Dallas
Fort Lauderdale with Miami
St. Paul with Minneapolis
Dearborn, Warren, Livonia with Detroit
Aurora, Lakewood with Denver
Carlsbad, Vista with San Diego (SD city limits extend quite far north)
Mesa with Phoenix
St. Petersburg with Tampa
Round Rock with Austin
Henderson with Las Vegas
Elyria, Lorain, Parma with Cleveland
Boca Raton with West Palm Beach
Cary with Raleigh
Cape Coral, Punta Gorda with Fort Myers
Bradenton, North Port with Sarasota
Ventura, Camarillo with Oxnard
Bethlehem, Easton with Allentown
Nashua with Manchester, NH
High Point with Greensboro
Schenectady with Albany
Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Laguna Beach with San Clemente
Murrieta with Temecula
Hershey, Carlisle with Harrisburg
Davis, Woodland with Sacramento
Princeton with Trenton
Odessa with Midland
Bonita Springs, Marco Island with Naples
Conroe with The Woodlands
Longmont with Boulder
Newburgh with Poughkeepsie
Bentonville, Springdale, Rogers with Fayetteville, AR
Tracy, Manteca, and Lodi with Stockton
Loveland with Fort Collins
Indio with Palm Springs
Wilkes-Barre with Scranton
Elkhart with South Bend
Palmdale with Lancaster, CA
Beloit with Rockford
Battle Creek with Kalamazoo
Spanish Fort, Daphne with Mobile
Winter Haven with Lakeland
Salinas with Monterey
Waterbury with New Haven
Chapel Hill with Durham
Melbourne with Palm Bay
Decatur, AL with Huntsville

Separated:
Bridgeport from New York City

Riverside/San Bernardino, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Mission Viejo/San Clemente, Temecula, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Lancaster CA, Victorville, Indio/Palm Springs from Los Angeles

Baltimore from Washington

San Jose, Antioch from San Francisco
Providence from Boston
The Woodlands from Houston
Trenton from Philadelphia
Denton from Dallas
Palm Beach County from Miami
Tacoma from Seattle
Boulder/Longmont from Denver
Tampa from Orlando
Akron, Canton, Cleveland are all separate
Dayton, Middletown, Cincinnati are all separate
Austin from San Antonio

Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford, Springfield MA are all separate

Durham from Raleigh
Stockton from Sacramento
Winston-Salem from Greensboro
Thousand Oaks from Oxnard
Vero Beach from Port St. Lucie

[18Montclair]

Good work.

Yeah most people dont know that Palo Alto is actually part of the San Francisco-Oakland Urban Area even though it's in the San Jose Metro Area.

[masssachoicetts]

I agree with top 10. But Raleigh seems a bit low? No?

[g500]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

I agree with top 10. But Raleigh seems a bit low? No?

Raleigh is low because Durham is not included in my assumption.

Urban area grouping can be subjective. I wanted to base my groupings mainly on walking distance between main city and node city cores. Larger cities like NYC and SF have more gravitational pull (maybe 12 or even 14 hours walking time). Medium cities might have 6-8 hours. Small cities less so. But it is a very gray area due to city limits, geographical barriers, unwalkable highways. Walking is the most bohemian, tangible method of transportation. So that was a fundamental part in my assumptions regarding urban area groupings.

Walking distance downtown Raleigh to downtown Durham is 24.2 miles or slightly more than 8 hours. It's definitely a gray area here.

Also, Durham seems to have too much of its own identity to be lumped together with Raleigh. Many publications separate them. If they were together, I would probably put Raleigh at #35 above New Orleans, perhaps a bit higher even. Instead Raleigh is #41 and Durham is #78.

[As Above So Below...]

Excellent work! I think the top 12 are perfect.

I think I’d push San Jose higher just because of the amount of technology that’s developed there. Maybe the 13 or 14 spot for it. I’d put Raleigh a bit higher too.

[TarHeelNick]

Originally Posted by g500

Durham from Raleigh
Stockton from Sacramento
Winston-Salem from Greensboro
Thousand Oaks from Oxnard
Vero Beach from Port St. Lucie

Womp womp. One visit to the area; just on the flight in when you look out the window and see the development pattern....and you'll see the fallacy in the bolded. Or to make it easier just look at the google earth views.

Raleigh wouldn't be Raleigh without Durham/CH...and Durham/CH wouldn't be Durham/CH without Raleigh. Just because an urban area is multi-nodal in composition doesn't make each of those "nodes" a separate urban area.

[mhays25]

UAs are an interesting measure.

For Washington's Tri Cities (Richland, Pasco, Kennewick) I checked the location of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory...it's in the UA. They claim the "most scientists and engineers per capita" in the US, and 1,600 PhDs. I'd put its rank closer to its #171 2010 population ranking (higher now), vs. the #200 where you have it.

All of this depends on what you're counting as "influence" of course, detailing the categories you list. For example one could argue that a freeway interchange is more influential than a university.

[mwj119]

Seems like a good list. My gut tells me Seattle should be higher, though it’s probably place correctly on this list.

Seattle is a wagon, but I forget just how small the urban area is. MSA population follows.

[masssachoicetts]

Still a great list! great work. Really appreciate the data.

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by TarHeelNick

W

Raleigh wouldn't be Raleigh without Durham/CH...and Durham/CH wouldn't be Durham/CH without Raleigh. Just because an urban area is multi-nodal in composition doesn't make each of those "nodes" a separate urban area.

Agreed. So how do we get the statisticians at the OMB to stop separated so many of them on paper?