Skyscraper Comparison in US Cities with 3 Million + Metro Area Population (largest, populations)
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I thought I'd segment this tier of metro areas out for the largest in the US, over 3 million in population.
Thought it would be fascinating to see a good snapshot of how these sizes of metros stack up with total number of skyscrapers completed, 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. New York City: 19.979 million
Skyscrapers: 375+
(under construction 10+)
2. Chicago: 9.498 million
Skyscrapers: 175+
(under construction 13)
3. Miami-Ft Lauderdale: 6.198 million
Skyscrapers: 110+
(under construction 6)
4. San Francisco-Oakland: 4.729 million
Skyscrapers: 80+
(under construction 7+)
5. Houston: 6.997 million
Skyscrapers: 65+
(under construction 3)
6. Seattle: 3.939 million
Skyscrapers: 60+
(under construction 15+)
7. Los Angeles: 13.291 million
Skyscrapers: 60+
(under construction 12)
8. Dallas-Ft Worth: 7.539 million
Skyscrapers: 55+
(under construction 4)
9. Atlanta: 5.949 million
Skyscrapers: 50+
(under construction 2)
10. Boston: 4.875 million
Skyscrapers: 45+
(under construction 7)
11. Philadelphia: 6.096 million
Skyscrapers: 45+
(under construction 3)
12. Minneapolis: 3.629 million
Skyscrapers: 40
(under construction 3)
13. San Diego: 3.343 million
Skyscrapers: 37
(under construction 4)
14. Detroit: 4.326 million
Skyscrapers: 37
(under construction 3)
15. Phoenix: 4.857 million
Skyscrapers: 17
(under construction 1)
16. Tampa-St Petersburg: 3.142 million
Skyscrapers: 14
(under construction 3)
17. Washington, DC: 6.249 million
Skyscrapers: Height zoning limits height--none over 300 ft
(under construction none)
18. Riverside-San Bernardino: 4.622 million
Skyscrapers: 0 *all buildings in both cities under 200 feet
(under construction none currently)
Observations:
*New York City blows away all of these by far, more than doubling Chicago, the next closest metro
*At this rate of construction, Seattle will easily be in the top 4 by 2030
*Atlanta's skyscraper growth has slowed considerably the past 8-10 years
*Huge gap between Detroit and then Phoenix and Tampa
*Phoenix and Tampa are not in this skyscraper league at all. They are lagging way behind for such large metro areas
I think the numbers for Houston are a little low.
I think Houston has 103 buildings over 100M and 3 under construction.
Houston should be right after Miami.
Check out SSpage
Above average: Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco
Average: Philadelphia, Boston, Houston
Below Average: Dallas, Detroit, Minneapolis, San Diego
Terrible: Los Angeles, Tampa, Phoenix
I don't think Philadelphia, Boston or Houston are "Average", but Atlanta should be in the group. Why would Atlanta be in the "above average" with similar numbers to Philadelphia and Boston, and Dallas in "below average" with higher numbers?
So? LA may have a higher population, but that doesn’t make a difference in this thread.
Anyway, my personal preference might go:
1) NYC
2) Chicago
3) Seattle
4) San Francisco
5) LA
6) Miami
7) Atlanta
8) Philly
9) Dallas
10) Minneapolis
11) Boston
12) Houston
13) San Diego
14) Detroit
15) Tampa
16) Phoenix
Last edited by Boston Shudra; 04-09-2020 at 07:22 AM..
Above average: Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco
Average: Philadelphia, Boston, Houston
Below Average: Dallas, Detroit, Minneapolis, San Diego
Terrible: Los Angeles, Tampa, Phoenix
Is your evaluation based purely on population size and quantity of skyscrapers? Not sure how Minneapolis and San Diego are "below average" when they clearly have more 300-footers relative to population than most other metros besides the top 5.
Is your evaluation based purely on population size and quantity of skyscrapers? Not sure how Minneapolis and San Diego are "below average" when they clearly have more 300-footers relative to population than most other metros besides the top 5.
Or are you thinking aesthetics too?
I wasn't sure of that myself. Either way I wouldn't consider Philadelphia, Boston or Houston to be "average", especially Philadelphia and Boston since their skylines are among the most varied in the nation (old and new).
I would say the "above average" and "average" groups should be one group with a few standouts.
Why would Atlanta be in the "above average" with similar numbers to Philadelphia and Boston, and Dallas in "below average" with higher numbers?
Atlanta booster
Quote:
Originally Posted by newgensandiego
Is your evaluation based purely on population size and quantity of skyscrapers? Not sure how Minneapolis and San Diego are "below average" when they clearly have more 300-footers relative to population than most other metros besides the top 5.
Or are you thinking aesthetics too?
It's based purely on boosting ATL
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpomp
I wasn't sure of that myself. Either way I wouldn't consider Philadelphia, Boston or Houston to be "average", especially Philadelphia and Boston since their skylines are among the most varied in the nation (old and new).
I would say the "above average" and "average" groups should be one group with a few standouts.
Houston, Seattle, SF, Minneapolis along with Miami are above average. Houston and Miami with over 100 each has twice the number as DFW, Atlanta, Boston and Philly although they are comparable in size. Minneapolis and Seattle are impressive for their size
Philadelphia, Boston Atlanta and Dallas would be average.
LA below average.
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