Top Metropolitan Areas

Updated: April 2009
Rank Metro Area Population
2008
Population
2007
Numerical
Change
%
Change
1 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA 19,006,798 18,922,571 84,227 0.45%
2 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 12,872,808 12,784,612 88,196 0.45%
3 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI 9,569,624 9,496,853 72,771 0.69%
4 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 6,300,006 6,153,474 146,532 0.77%
5 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 5,838,471 5,823,285 15,186 2.38%
6 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX 5,728,143 5,597,958 130,185 0.26%
7 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 5,414,772 5,392,118 22,654 2.33%
8 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA 5,376,285 5,261,296 114,989 0.42%
9 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 5,358,130 5,302,295 55,835 2.19%
10 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 4,522,858 4,492,338 30,520 1.05%
11 Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI 4,425,110 4,457,523 -32,413 0.68%
12 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 4,281,899 4,165,921 115,978 -0.73%
13 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 4,274,531 4,216,125 58,406 2.78%
14 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 4,115,871 4,066,573 49,298 1.39%
15 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 3,344,813 3,298,225 46,588 1.21%
16 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 3,229,878 3,197,620 32,258 1.41%
17 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 3,001,072 2,959,734 41,338 1.01%
18 St. Louis, MO-IL 2,816,710 2,805,465 11,245 1.40%
19 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 2,733,761 2,715,273 18,488 0.40%
20 Baltimore-Towson, MD 2,667,117 2,663,805 3,312 0.68%
21 Denver-Aurora, CO 2,506,626 2,453,393 53,233 0.12%
22 Pittsburgh, PA 2,351,192 2,354,159 -2,967 2.17%
23 Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA 2,207,462 2,166,491 40,971 -0.13%
24 Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN 2,155,137 2,143,824 11,313 1.89%
25 Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA 2,109,832 2,082,186 27,646 0.53%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Census (March 2009)