Historic population thresholds

[Docere]

Year in which US and Canadian cities reached the 100,000, 500,000 and 1,000,000 mark, up to 1950. All are existing cities using the boundaries of the day, except for Brooklyn in the 19th century. After 1950, city propers matter less and 100,000 is less of a big deal, so I haven't done it after that point. Canadian figures are for "1" years.

100,000

1820: New York NY (123,706)

1840: Baltimore MD (102,313); New Orleans LA (102,193)

1850: Boston MA (136,881); Philadelphia PA (121,376); Cincinnati OH (115,435)

1860: Brooklyn NY (266,661); St. Louis MO (160,773); Chicago IL (112,172)

1870: San Francisco CA (149,173); Buffalo NY (117,714); Washington DC (109,199); Montreal QC (107,255); Newark NJ (105,059)

1880: Cleveland OH (160,146); Pittsburgh PA (156,389); Louisville KY (123,758); Jersey City NJ (120,722); Detroit MI (116,340); Milwaukee WI (115,587); Providence RI (104,857)

1890: Toronto ON (181,220); Minneapolis (164,738); Omaha NE (140,452); Rochester NY (133,896); St. Paul MN (133,156); Kansas City MO (132,716); Denver CO (106,713); Indianapolis IN (105,436)

1900: Toledo OH (131,822); Columbus OH (125,560); Worcester MA (118,421); Syracuse NY (108,374); New Haven CT (108,027); Paterson NJ (105,171); Fall River MA (104,863); Los Angeles CA (102,479); Memphis TN (102,320); Scranton PA (102,026)

1910: Seattle WA (237,194); Portland OR (207,214); Atlanta GA (154,839); Oakland CA (150,174); Winnipeg MB (136,035); Birmingham AL (132,865); Richmond VA (127,628); Vancouver BC (120,847); Dayton OH (116,577); Grand Rapids MI (112,571); Nashville TN (110,364); Lowell (106,294); Cambridge MA (104,839); Spokane WA (104,402); Bridgeport CT (102,054); Albany NY (100,253)

1920: Akron OH (208,035); San Antonio TX (161,379); Dallas TX (158,976); Houston TX (138,276); Youngstown OH (132,358); Springfield MA (129,614); Des Moines IA (126,468); New Bedford MA (121,217); Trenton NJ (119,289); Salt Lake City UT (118,110); Camden NJ (116,309); Norfolk VA (115,777); Hamilton ON (114,151); Wilmington DE (110,168); Ottawa ON (107,843); Reading PA (107,784); Kansas City KS (101,177); Yonkers NY (100,176)

1930: Oklahoma City OK (185,389); Flint MI (156,492); San Diego CA (147,995); Long Beach CA (142,032); Tulsa OK (141,258); Quebec QC (130,594); Jacksonville FL (129,549); Chattanooga TN (119,798); Erie PA (115,967); Fort Wayne IN (114,946); Elizabeth NJ (114,589); Wichita KS (111,110); Miami FL (110,637); Tacoma WA (106,817); Knoxville TN (105,802); Peoria IL (104,969); Canton OH (104,906); South Bend IN (104,193); Somerville MA (103,908); El Paso TX (102,421); Lynn MA (102,320); Evansville IN (102,249); Utica NY (101,740); Duluth MN (101,463); Tampa FL (101,161); Gary IN (100,426)

1940: Sacramento CA (105,598); Windsor ON (105,311); Charlotte NC (100,899)

1950: Edmonton AB (159,631); Austin TX (132,459); Calgary AB (129,060); Savannah GA (119,638); Berkeley CA (113,805); Corpus Christi TX (108,287); Phoenix AZ (106,818); Allentown PA (106,756)

500,000

1850: New York NY (515,547)

1860: Philadelphia PA (565,529)

1880: Brooklyn NY (566,663); Chicago IL (503,185)

1900: St. Louis MO (575,238); Boston MA (560,892); Baltimore MD (508,957)

1910: Cleveland OH (560,663); Pittsburgh PA (533,905)

1920: Detroit MI (993,078); Montreal QC (618,506); Los Angeles CA (576,673); Toronto ON (521,893); Buffalo NY (506,775); San Francisco CA (506,676)

1930: Milwaukee WI (578,249)

1940: Washington DC (663,091)

1950: Houston TX (596,163); New Orleans LA (570,445); Minneapolis MN (521,718); Cincinnati OH (503,998)

1,000,000

1880: New York NY (1,206,299)

1890: Chicago IL (1,099,850); Philadelphia PA (1,046,964)

1930: Detroit MI (1,568,662); Los Angeles CA (1,238,048)

1950: Montreal QC (1,020,521)

[Sun Belt]

1900 L.A., Memphis and Scranton were of the same size! Worcester was a larger city.

102,000 to 3.7 million in 100 years, incredible! Who cares about MSA and CSA at this point.

[Docere]

Philadelphia hitting 100,000 "later" than Baltimore or Pittsburgh is kind of a technicality - the outlying districts of Northern Liberties, Kensington, Spring Garden etc. took it past 100,000 in 1820.

Pittsburgh reaches 100,000 a decade earlier, in 1870, if Allegheny is included (combined population 139,256).

New York + Brooklyn hit the 1,000,000 mark in 1860.

[Docere]

Interesting that L.A. and Detroit both added over 1 million to their populations between 1900 and 1930 (1.1 and 1.2 million, respectively). Both were car-oriented cities earlier than other cities. Of course after 1950, their trajectory was very different.

[Pavlov's Dog]

Not that it is that important but Cincinnati finally broke 500,000 in 1950 which isn't listed here. They were #6 to 100,000 but it took them 100 years to break through to 500,000. Of course now it has about the same population as in 1890.

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by Docere

Interesting that L.A. and Detroit both added over 1 million to their populations between 1900 and 1930 (1.1 and 1.2 million, respectively). Both were car-oriented cities earlier than other cities. Of course after 1950, their trajectory was very different.

L.A. hadn't quite become the car capital of the world at that point. It had the world's largest electrified rail system in 1920.

[MolsonExport]

Interesting thread idea. It is cool to see how many cities were once relativelyhuge (tiny) and are now relatively small (huge).

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by Pavlov's Dog

Not that it is that important but Cincinnati finally broke 500,000 in 1950 which isn't listed here. They were #6 to 100,000 but it took them 100 years to break through to 500,000. Of course now it has about the same population as in 1890.

Most people would consider Miami to be a fast growth boom town but it is taking roughly the same amount of time to reach 500k. It reached 100,000 in the 1920's and will probably reach 500,000 in the 2020's, about 100 years. It took a different route to get there but the results are pretty much the same.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Pavlov's Dog

Not that it is that important but Cincinnati finally broke 500,000 in 1950 which isn't listed here. They were #6 to 100,000 but it took them 100 years to break through to 500,000. Of course now it has about the same population as in 1890.

Corrected.

Interestingly, Minneapolis was only "there" as a city proper once in 1950. At least Cincinnati (barely) made it again in 1960 - but again after 1950 city propers matter a lot less.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

L.A. hadn't quite become the car capital of the world at that point. It had the world's largest electrified rail system in 1920.

Even Detroit had one of the most extensive streetcar system in the country until the 1950s

[AMWChicago]

It is mind boggling how Chicago's population went from 100k to 1M in 30 years.

[Kngkyle]

Originally Posted by Docere

1880: Chicago IL (503,185)
1890: Chicago IL (1,099,850)

This is crazy. What a sight that would have been.

[Buckeye Native 001]

If it was anything like what was depicted in The Jungle, I can't imagine that it was pretty or clean

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by Kngkyle

This is crazy. What a sight that would have been.

Chicago: Impressive growth at 60,000/year during that decade.

Originally Posted by AMWChicago

It is mind boggling how Chicago's population went from 100k to 1M in 30 years.

Similar growth, just different time period for Los Angeles.
1900: 102,000 1930: 1,238,048

[JManc]

Cleveland and Baltimore flirted with 1,000,000. Came fairly close...

[jd3189]

Originally Posted by dave8721

Most people would consider Miami to be a fast growth boom town but it is taking roughly the same amount of time to reach 500k. It reached 100,000 in the 1920's and will probably reach 500,000 in the 2020's, about 100 years. It took a different route to get there but the results are pretty much the same.

It is also small geographically. The metro grew more rapidly though, along with the rest of the state in the late 20th/ early 21st centuries.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

L.A. hadn't quite become the car capital of the world at that point. It had the world's largest electrified rail system in 1920.

Actually, by the mid 1920s, LA was indeed the car capital of the world; at the time, it had more registered car owners than any other city on earth. In the mid-1920s, 1 in 7 Americans owned a car; in California, 1 in 4 people owned a car; in Los Angeles, there was 1 car for every 2.25 people (from the book "East Los Angeles: History of a Barrio"). Angelenos took to the car very early on---the weather was more agreeable to riders of the non-enclosed cars of the early automobile age. Sprawl had already occurred with the Pacific Electric streetcar, and many thought the automobile to be more modern and convenient than the 19th century-era streetcar.

[muppet]

London

100,000 1500

500,000 1675

1,000,000 1805



Beijing

100,000 580 AD

500,000 1425

1,000,000 As early as 1500 or 1600, as late as 1775

[RC14]

In 1950 Las Vegas had a population of only 24,624. Twenty years latter, in 1970 they broke 100,000. It took them till 2010 to break 500,000.

[Boisebro]

I believe Austin cracked 100,000 by 1950. according to wikipedia, which is never ever wrong, Austin had a population of 132,459.

Madison, Wisconsin, broke 100,000 about 10 minutes after 1950.