New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago lead the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates of city populations, while Texas holds four of the top ten spots and Fort Worth grew fastest since 2020.
New York, New York is the most populous city in the United States, with an estimated 8,584,629 residents on July 1, 2025. Los Angeles is second at 3,869,089 and Chicago third at 2,731,585. The ranking uses city-proper population within municipal boundaries, from the US Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates for incorporated places, released in May 2026.
This list ranks the ten most populous cities in the United States by their city-proper population — the people living inside the legal municipal boundary, not the wider metropolitan area — using the US Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates for July 1, 2025, released in May 2026. New York City is more than twice the size of second-place Los Angeles. Four of the top ten are in Texas (Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth), and the three largest cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — all remain below their 2020 Census counts.
New York City is the largest city in the United States by a wide margin, with an estimated 8,584,629 residents on July 1, 2025 — more than Los Angeles and Chicago combined. Its estimate is still below its 2020 Census count of 8,804,190.
Los Angeles is the second-largest city in the US and the largest in California, with an estimated 3,869,089 residents in 2025, slightly below its 2020 Census count of 3,898,747. The city covers about 470 square miles of land.
Chicago is the third-largest US city and the largest in the Midwest, with an estimated 2,731,585 residents in 2025, slightly below its 2020 Census count of 2,746,388.
Houston, the largest city in Texas, had an estimated 2,397,315 residents in 2025, up about 92,700 (4.0%) from its 2020 Census count — the fastest percentage growth in the top five. It is also the largest city on this list by land area, at about 640 square miles.
Phoenix, Arizona's capital and largest city, had an estimated 1,665,481 residents in 2025, up about 57,300 (3.6%) from the 2020 Census. It is the largest state capital by population in the United States.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's largest city, had an estimated 1,574,281 residents in 2025 and holds sixth place, about 26,000 ahead of San Antonio. Its estimate is below its 2020 Census count of 1,603,797.
San Antonio, the second-largest city in Texas, had an estimated 1,548,422 residents in 2025, up about 113,800 (7.9%) from the 2020 Census — the largest numeric gain of any city on this list.
San Diego, the second-largest city in California, had an estimated 1,406,106 residents in 2025, up about 19,200 (1.4%) from its 2020 Census count of 1,386,932.
Dallas had an estimated 1,329,491 residents in 2025, up about 25,100 (1.9%) from the 2020 Census. It is one of four Texas cities in the top ten.
Fort Worth had an estimated 1,028,117 residents in 2025, up about 109,200 (11.9%) from its 2020 Census count of 918,915 — the fastest percentage growth of any city in the top ten. It is about 10,400 ahead of 11th-place Jacksonville, Florida (1,017,689).
| # | Name | State | 2020 Census | Change 2020–2025 | Land area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York, New York | New York | 8,804,190 | -2.5% | 300.5 mi² |
| 2 | Los Angeles, California | California | 3,898,747 | -0.8% | 469.5 mi² |
| 3 | Chicago, Illinois | Illinois | 2,746,388 | -0.5% | 227.7 mi² |
| 4 | Houston, Texas | Texas | 2,304,580 | +4.0% | 640.4 mi² |
| 5 | Phoenix, Arizona | Arizona | 1,608,139 | +3.6% | 518.0 mi² |
| 6 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania | 1,603,797 | -1.8% | 134.4 mi² |
| 7 | San Antonio, Texas | Texas | 1,434,625 | +7.9% | 498.8 mi² |
| 8 | San Diego, California | California | 1,386,932 | +1.4% | 325.9 mi² |
| 9 | Dallas, Texas | Texas | 1,304,379 | +1.9% | 339.6 mi² |
| 10 | Fort Worth, Texas | Texas | 918,915 | +11.9% | 347.3 mi² |
Cities are ranked by estimated resident population on July 1, 2025, from the US Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 Population Estimates for incorporated places ('City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2025'). Only incorporated places in the 50 states and DC are included; Puerto Rico municipios and census-designated places are excluded. The '2020 Census' column is the April 1, 2020 census count, and 'Change 2020–2025' is the percentage change from that count to the July 2025 estimate (not an annual rate). Land area is the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer figure. We could not reach census.gov directly; figures were taken from Wikipedia's 'List of United States cities by population', which reproduces the Census table, and the New York City figure was cross-checked against an independent republication. Rank 1 is the largest population.
New York City, with an estimated 8,584,629 residents on July 1, 2025, according to the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates. Los Angeles (3,869,089) and Chicago (2,731,585) are second and third.
City proper is the population inside a city's legal boundaries. A metropolitan area also includes surrounding suburbs and economically linked counties, so it is much larger. This list uses city-proper figures only.
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia all have 2025 estimates below their 2020 Census counts. The other six — Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas and Fort Worth — have grown, with Fort Worth up the most in percentage terms (11.9%).
Jacksonville, Florida, at an estimated 1,017,689 residents in 2025, about 10,400 behind Fort Worth. Austin, Texas (1,002,632) is 12th.
The Census Bureau publishes new estimates each year and revises earlier years, so positions near the bottom of the top ten can shift. This list reflects the Vintage 2025 release.
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