America's 50 largest population centers by radius (25/35/50 mi) (calculated, move)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When I originally opened this thread it was to get a sense of the radius population in overall regions or urban/metros. This time I will hone in much smaller and expand outward for a more clear picture. The first of which metrics will be at 5 kilometers radius from a central point of a city.
Note: There are obviously many cities that water becomes a challenge when using a circular tool. For numerous cities i.e. Chicago, Milwaukee, Miami etc. I chose the most fair central locations possible still with good vicinity to the immediate downtown center. As I expand the radius out to 10km and beyond going forward some of those cities will see a fair movement of their central point radi.
First round is at 5km or 3.1mi radius.
5km/3.1mi population from central point of town:
New York, NY (Manhattan)- 14th St/Union Sqare West 1,219,767
Los Angeles (Downtown) 5th street/Flower US Bank Tower- 554,586
San Francisco Van Ness/Market- 495,549
Philadelphia City Hall- 493,064
Chicago (Union Park) Ashland/West Lake Street 481,924
Boston (Government Center) Cambridge Street- 431,427
Washington DC (Washington Monument)- 372,087
Baltimore, MD (Downtown) Mulberry/North Howard Street- 301,070
Miami- (Gibson Park) 298,033
San Jose,CA (Downtown) South Market Street/Park Avenue- 271,025
Las Vegas, NV (North Main Street/East Stewart Avenue)- 260,818
Austin, TX (Texas State Capitol)- 244,716
Denver Civic Center Park- 241,928
Minneapolis,MN Hennepin/ Washington Avenue North- 235,330
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Greyhound Station) 234,009
Providence, RI (Bank Newprt Center) Washington/Dorrance Street- 233,772
San Diego,CA- 11th Avenue and Broadway- 227,111
Houston,TX Central Station (Capitol and Main)- 223,206
Seattle,WA Pike/Boren Ave- 220,778
San Antonio, TX Travis Park- 215,816
Portland, OR (Pioneer Sq North)- 196,898
Atlanta,GA (Five Points)- 192,800
Columbus, OH- (Capitol Square)- 175,454
Sacramento, CA California State Capitol- 173,676
Dallas,TX (Union Station)- 173,025
Salt Lake City, UT (City Council Building/500 South/State Street)- 172,231
Pittsburgh,PA Union Station- 155,813
Phoenix,AZ Rooselvelt Central- 154,587
Cincinnati, OH- Fountain Sq Plaza) Walnut/East 5th St)- 146,542
Louisville, KY (Kentucky Int'l Convention Center)- 129,945
Detroit,MI (Intersections of Edsel Ford Freeway and The Lodge)- 129,792 Minimized use of Canadian population.
Tampa, FL (City Hall)- 118,621
Nashville, TN (Tennessee State Captiol/Victory Park)- 117,128
Orlando, FL (Orange County Courthouse)- 115,456
Charlotte, NC (Epicenter/ East Trade Street/South College)- 114,686
Buffalo, NY (McKinley Monument)- 105,826, no Canadian population included
Kansas City, MO (Downtown) Metro Center/12th street- 94,115
St. Louis,MO (Downtown, Market/North Broadway Street)- 82,498
Cleveland, OH (Downtown)- Public Square 80,467
Last edited by the resident09; 08-16-2023 at 06:53 PM..
When I originally opened this thread it was to get a sense of the radius population in overall regions or urban/metros. This time I will hone in much smaller and expand outward for a more clear picture. The first of which metrics will be at 5 kilometers radius from a central point of a city.
Note: There are obviously many cities that water becomes a challenge when using a circular tool. For numerous cities i.e. Chicago, Milwaukee, Miami etc. I chose the most fair central locations possible still with good vicinity to the immediate downtown center. As I expand the radius out to 10km and beyond going forward some of those cities will see a fair movement of their central point radi.
First round is at 5km or 3.1mi radius.
5km/3.1mi population from central point of town:
New York, NY (Manhattan)- 14th St/Union Sqare West 1,219,767
Los Angeles (Downtown) 5th street/Flower US Bank Tower- 554,586
San Francisco Van Ness/Market- 495,549
Philadelphia City Hall- 493,064
Chicago (Union Park) Ashland/West Lake Street 481,924
Boston (Government Center) Cambridge Street- 431,427
Washington DC (Washington Monument)- 372,087
Baltimore, MD (Downtown) Mulberry/North Howard Street- 301,070
Miami- (Gibson Park) 298,033
San Jose,CA (Downtown) South Market Street/Park Avenue- 271,025
Las Vegas, NV (North Main Street/East Stewart Avenue)- 260,818
Austin, TX (Texas State Capitol)- 244,716
Denver Civic Center Park- 241,928
Minneapolis,MN Hennepin/ Washington Avenue North- 235,330
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Greyhound Station) 234,009
Providence, RI (Bank Newprt Center) Washington/Dorrance Street- 233,772
San Diego,CA- 11th Avenue and Broadway- 227,111
Houston,TX Central Station (Capitol and Main)- 223,206
Seattle,WA Pike/Boren Ave- 220,778
San Antonio, TX Travis Park- 215,816
Portland, OR (Pioneer Sq North)- 196,898
Atlanta,GA (Five Points)- 192,800
Columbus, OH- (Capitol Square)- 175,454
Sacramento, CA California State Capitol- 173,676
Dallas,TX (Union Station)- 173,025
Salt Lake City, UT (City Council Building/500 South/State Street)- 172,231
Pittsburgh,PA Union Station- 155,813
Phoenix,AZ Rooselvelt Central- 154,587
Cincinnati, OH- Fountain Sq Plaza) Walnut/East 5th St)- 146,542
Louisville, KY (Kentucky Int'l Convention Center)- 129,945
Detroit,MI (Intersections of Edsel Ford Freeway and The Lodge)- 129,792 Minimized use of Canadian population.
Tampa, FL (City Hall)- 118,621
Nashville, TN (Tennessee State Captiol/Victory Park)- 117,128
Orlando, FL (Orange County Courthouse)- 115,456
Charlotte, NC (Epicenter/ East Trade Street/South College)- 114,686
Buffalo, NY (McKinley Monument)- 105,826, no Canadian population included
Kansas City, MO (Downtown) Metro Center/12th street- 94,115
St. Louis,MO (Downtown, Market/North Broadway Street)- 82,498
Cleveland, OH (Downtown)- Public Square 80,467
These are the populations I found when you moved the circle inland within fair vicinity of the downtown(s) and minimizing water as much as possible.
*NYC, Long Island City - 1,411,436
LA, Magnolia E. School - 675,125
SF, 17th & Castro St. - 626,304
Philly, University Lutheran Church - 546,859
Boston, Fenway Park - 538,695
Chicago, Branch & North Damon Ave. - 499,963
DC, Howard University Hospital - 423,663
Miami, Little Havana - 355,403
San Diego, Mikenelly E. School - 352, 391
Baltimore, Greenmount & East N. Ave. - 350,890
*Seattle, Boeing Centennial - 305,556
Oakland, Marcom Ampitheatre - 299,093
Milwaukee, Wisconsin State Park - 277,499
Portland, Sullivans Gulch - 265,659
NYC & Seattle have too much water at this scale to get an accurate contiguous land population. For all other cities, they are pretty much maxed out by radius pop.
That is a fascinating tool. Easier to use than I normally see. Raleigh seems to top out at 153,800 if centered on Boylan Heights near the train station. Covers all of downtown and most of Inside the Beltline.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,132 posts, read 7,575,946 times
Reputation: 5796
So again I'm as much as possible keeping the radius in the center of the downtown core of cities, and not just moving it to follow where the population flows to because of land. That will be reflected more as the radius grows. The rare exceptions thus far are Detroit due to Canada, and Buffalo. I move it a little more for Chicago after this round, than most others because it's so big. No matter where you place a center point, cities that have land taking up the radius area will obviously count more of their populations. Some water will be included for places like Boston, Chicago, Miami etc,. there's no helping that. It will eat their numbers some at this smaller metric, but you will notice them ramping up later. A center point is a center point, it just is what it is. Also the list will be slimming down to the much larger populations after this 10km round.
Edit* Added Raleigh here, was omitted from the OP, thanks Heel82.
10km/6.2mi from downtown city center
New York, NY Union Square- 3,577,375
Los Angeles, CA (Downtown) 5th and Flower- 1,813,654
Chicago, IL (Union Park) Ashland/West Lake Street- 1,457,432
Philadelphia, PA City Hall- 1,255,522
Boston- (Hynes Convention Center)- 1,244,321
Washington DC (Washington Monument)- 1,173,954
Las Vegas, NV (North Main Street/East Stewart Avenue)- 1,071,316
San Jose, CA South Market/ Park Avenue 1,005,257
San Francisco Van Ness/Market- 876,756
Baltimore, MD- Mulberry Street/North Howard- 774,431
San Diego, CA 11th Ave/Broadway -737,076
Miami, FL Gibson Park- 733,779
San Antonio, TX (Travis Park)- 731,823
Houston, TX Central Station Main/Rusk Street- 712,934
Denver, CO Civic Center Park- 708,169
Phoenix, AZ Roosevelt/Central- 694,779
Austin, TX (Texas State Capitol Square)- 679,081
Minneapolis,MN Hennepin/Washington Avenue North- 662,582
Portland, OR (Pioneer Square)- 632,028
Milwaukee, WI (Downtown) Greyhound Station- 616,548
Seattle, WA Pike Street/Boren Ave- 616,257
Dallas, TX (Union Station)- 589,914
Detroit, MI (Highland Park)- Woodward/Davison Freeway- this had to be dragged northward because of Canada. 584,803
Sacramento, CA California State Capitol- 576,773
Orlando, FL (Orlando City Hall)- 553,226
Columbus, GA Capitol Square- 550,150
Atlanta, GA (Five Points)- 529,550
Pittsburgh, PA (Union Station)- 513,851
Providence, RI Washington/Dorrance Street -500,427
Cleveland, OH (Troy James Highway/Willow Freeway)- 432,016
Cincinnati, OH Walnut/East 5th Street- 418,388
Raleigh, NC Raleigh Union Station- 403,819
Louisville, KY (Kentucky Int'lConvention Center)- 384,701
Salt Lake, UT (City Council Building)- 384,383
Charlotte, NC (Epicenter/ East Trade Street/South College)- 375,154
Tampa, FL City Hall- 363,241
St. Louis, MO Market/Broadway- 342,594
Kansas City, MO (Downtown) Metro Center/12th street- 331,445
Nashville, TN (Tennessee State Captiol/Victory Park)- 308,641
Buffalo (400k)but taken out due to Canadian population, and water location being impossible to make an accurate circle.
Last edited by the resident09; 08-16-2023 at 10:03 PM..
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,132 posts, read 7,575,946 times
Reputation: 5796
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joakim3
These are the populations I found when you moved the circle inland within fair vicinity of the downtown(s) and minimizing water as much as possible.
*NYC, Long Island City - 1,411,436
LA, Magnolia E. School - 675,125
SF, 17th & Castro St. - 626,304
Philly, University Lutheran Church - 546,859
Boston, Fenway Park - 538,695
Chicago, Branch & North Damon Ave. - 499,963
DC, Howard University Hospital - 423,663
Miami, Little Havana - 355,403
San Diego, Mikenelly E. School - 352, 391
Baltimore, Greenmount & East N. Ave. - 350,890
*Seattle, Boeing Centennial - 305,556
Oakland, Marcom Ampitheatre - 299,093
Milwaukee, Wisconsin State Park - 277,499
Portland, Sullivans Gulch - 265,659
NYC & Seattle have too much water at this scale to get an accurate contiguous land population. For all other cities, they are pretty much maxed out by radius pop.
Trust me I've played around with all kinds of different configurations and placements on the map, since you posted in the other thread this link. Like I said it's a godsend lol. But I'm really just narrowing down to each cities true "Downtown mid point" or the widely regarded "Center" of downtown exactly. We can toggle around any of these and tap the radius to see how much more population we can get by moving it a few blocks off center or a neighborhood up the street, but I've tried to keep it based on city hall's downtown, central squares, or major transit stations etc. Expanding the radius out another level we're going to capture most of those cities with water's numbers anyway.
NYC obviously shows the greatest consistency, and I originally found 4 different potential central epicenters across 3 boroughs.
5km from central point of town:
Brooklyn, NY- Nostrand Ave/Eastern Pkwy- 1,435,353
New York, NY (Manhattan)- 7th Ave/ 56th street- 1,366,035
New York, NY (Manattan-Bronx) 3rd Avenue Bridge 1,365,386
New York, NY (Manhattan)- 14th St/Union Sqare West 1,219,767
Last edited by the resident09; 08-16-2023 at 10:06 PM..
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,132 posts, read 7,575,946 times
Reputation: 5796
I went a little bit further than I expected and completed the same list of cities. (Next one will be shorter as many of these cities lose steam). Radi was moved Westward for Milwaukee and Chicago, and inland to Miami International Airport. Places like Cleveland have almost 1/3 water even if you bring the radi down, but tapping it around different points you see it does not increase population to any significance once you move it further inland at this measurement of 15km. Anywho...
15km/9.32mi from downtown city center
New York, NY Union Square- 6,777,012
Los Angeles (Downtown) 5th and Flower Street- 3,275,644
Chicago- (Garfield Park) West Lake Street- 2,743,270
Philadelphia, PA City Hall- 2,110,551
Washington, DC (Washington Monument)- 2,050,460
Las Vegas, NV (North Main Street/East Stewart Avenue)- 1,778,763
Boston, MA Fenway- 1,713,559
Miami, FL Miami Int'l Airport (Tri-Rail station)- 1,608,056
San Jose, CA South Market/ Park Avenue- 1,537,952
Houston, TX Central Station Main/Rusk Street- 1,472,509
Denver, CO Civic Center Park- 1,411,838
Phoenix, AZ Roosevelt/Central- 1,355,074
San Diego (Downtown) City College- 1,281,284
Portland, OR (Pioneer Square)- 1,242,247
**Detroit (Woodward/Davison)- 1,237,879**
San Antonio, TX (Travis Park)- 1,230,067
Baltimore, MD Howard/West Preston Street- 1,228,788
San Francisco, Van Ness- 1,172,758
Minneapolis, MN Hennepin/Washington Avenue North- 1,167,861
Dallas, TX (Union Station) 1,162,902
Austin, TX (Texas State Capitol Building)- 1,064,433
Seattle, WA (Downtown) Pike/Boren Avenue- 1,027,366
Atlanta, GA (Five Points)- 955,402
Milwaukee, WI West Wisconsin Ave/N.35th street- 947,623
Sacramento, CA (California State Capitol Building)- 940,000
Pittsburgh Union Station- 783,281
Cleveland, OH (Troy James Highway/Willow Freeway)- 765,962
Raleigh, NC Raleigh Union Station- 740,748
Cincinnati, OH Walnut/East 5th Street- 732,734
Tampa, FL City Hall- 720,594
Salt Lake City, UT (City and Council Building)- 708,186
Charlotte, NC (Epicenter/ East Trade Street/South College)- 706,324
St. Louis, MO Market/Broadway- 675,133
Kansas City, MO (Downtown) Metro Center/12th street- 665,936
Providence, RI Washington/Dorrance Street- 661,059
Louisville (Kentucky Int'l Convention Center)- 643,257
Nashville, TN (Tennessee State Captiol/Victory Park)- 512,764
**This figure does include Ontario population. There's no way to keep center with Detroit and not cross into Windsor with an even circumference.
I'll crack at the 20km next when I have a moment. Early disclaimer for SF I will need to start centering the radi in the middle of the Bay for them at the next metric, meaning not actually over any land, to bring in both sides of the ring. This is the only scenario where I'll do such a thing.
Last edited by the resident09; 08-17-2023 at 12:18 AM..
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,132 posts, read 7,575,946 times
Reputation: 5796
Next up 20km and the threshold is 1 mil and up.
20 km/12.4 mi from "downtown" city central point:
New York, NY (Manhattan) Union Square 14th st- 9,472,389
Los Angeles (Downtown) 5th and Flower Street- 4,921,248
Chicago- (Garfield Park) West Lake Street- 3,530,121
Washington, DC (Washington Monument)- 2,787,918
Philadelphia, PA City Hall- 2,718,833
Houston, TX Central Station Main/Rusk Street- 2,465,705
Las Vegas, NV (North Main Street/East Stewart Avenue)- 2,377,923
Phoenix, AZ Roosevelt/Central- 2,262,588
Miami, FL Miami Int'l Airport (Tri-Rail station)- 2,231,990
Boston, MA Fenway- 2,107,002
Denver, CO Civic Center Park- 2,076,989
Dallas, TX (Union Station)- 2,002,153
Detroit, MI (Palmer Park)- 1,925,589
San Antonio, TX (Travis Park)- 1,849,273
Portland, OR (Pioneer Square)- 1,809,158
**San Diego, CA (San Diego Senior High School)- 1,781,328
San Jose, CA South Market/Park Avenue- 1,705,195
San Francisco- Castro/Market 1,650,143
Baltimore, MD Howard/West Preston Street- 1,645,134
Minneapolis,MN Hennepin/Washington Avenue North- 1,637,167
Atlanta, GA (Five Points)- 1,525,640
Seattle East Madison/ Broadway- 1,509,933
Orlando, FL (Orlando City Hall)- 1,500,269
Columbus, GA Capitol Square- 1,426,386
Sacramento, CA (California State Capitol Building)- 1,405,095
Milwaukee (West Wisconsin Ave/N Mayfair Rd)- 1,231,873
Kansas City, MO (KC Union Station)- 1,079,555
Tampa, FL City Hall- 1,067,875
Raleigh (Union Station)- 1,053,451
Cleveland, OH (Broadway/Harvard Avenue)- 1,044,885
Salt Lake City, UT (Pioneer Park)- 1,044,274
St. Louis- (Downtown/Market/Broadway)- 1,040,570
Pittsburgh, PA Union Station- 1,036,483
Cincinnati, OH (Walnut/East 5th)- 1,034,995
Charlotte, NC (Epicenter/Uptown)- 1,012,786
** San Diego was moved inland to SD Senior HS, and still takes on water, but this was the furtherst. inland I see as a fair point to pull the radi back to. At this radius it also does not yet take in any population from Mexico.
Also Detroit's population does cross into Canada a bit here, it's a balance of trying to have the radi centered, and keep the entire circle within the city proper. Thus the radi is not in downtown but rather North of it. Cleveland takes on a lot of water, but moving the radi around doesn't matter much and in fact it begins to lose population as you bring it inland.
I also added Indianapolis since it was omitted earlier. Providence, Louisville, Nashville, and Memphis that was not part of the other calculations are all under one million at their centers.
The next standard will be 1.5 million at 25km/15mi. This is where we'll see a good number of places fall off the list.
Last edited by the resident09; 08-17-2023 at 03:46 PM..
I really like this.
Really quick and easy to use.
Just set it to a certain distance and just click on a city on the map. I used 40km. I'm not sure how much that is in miles but it seemed a big enough radius.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
