The table below lists the largest 20 cities in the United States based on population for select years between 1900 to 2012.

1960 1980 20051 Rank Place Population Place Population Place Population 1. New York, N.Y. 7,781,984 New York, N.Y. 7,071,639 New York, N.Y. 8,143,197 2. Chicago, Ill. 3,550,404 Chicago, Ill. 3,005,072 Los Angeles, Calif. 3,844,829 3. Los Angeles, Calif. 2,479,015 Los Angeles, Calif. 2,966,850 Chicago, Ill. 2,842,518 4. Philadelphia, Pa. 2,002,512 Philadelphia, Pa. 1,688,210 Houston, Tex. 2,016,582 5. Detroit, Mich. 1,670,144 Houston, Tex, 1,595,138 Philadelphia, Pa. 1,463,281 6. Baltimore, Md. 939,024 Detroit, Mich. 1,203,339 Phoenix, Ariz. 1,461,575 7. Houston, Tex. 938,219 Dallas, Tex. 904,078 San Antonio, Tex. 1,256,509 8. Cleveland, Ohio 876,050 San Diego, Calif. 875,538 San Diego, Calif. 1,255,540 9. Washington, DC 763,956 Phoenix, Ariz. 789,704 Dallas, Tex. 1,213,825 10. St. Louis, Mo. 750,026 Baltimore, Md. 786,775 San Jose, Calif. 912,332 11. Milwaukee, Wis. 741,324 San Antonio, Tex. 785,880 Detroit, Mich. 886,671 12. San Francisco, Calif. 740,316 Indianapolis, Ind. 700,807 Indianapolis, Ind. 784,118 13. Boston, Mass. 697,197 San Francisco, Calif. 678,974 Jacksonville, Fla. 782,623 14. Dallas, Tex. 679,684 Memphis, Tenn. 646,356 San Francisco, Calif. 739,426 15. New Orleans, La. 627,525 Washington, DC 638,333 Columbus, Ohio 730,657 16. Pittsburgh, Pa. 604,332 Milwaukee, Wis. 636,212 Austin, Tex. 690,252 17. San Antonio, Tex. 587,718 San Jose, Calif. 629,442 Memphis, Tenn. 672,277 18. San Diego, Calif. 573,224 Cleveland, Ohio 573,822 Baltimore, Md. 635,815 19. Seattle, Wash. 557,087 Columbus, Ohio 564,871 Fort Worth, Tex. 624,067 20. Buffalo, N.Y. 532,759 Boston, Mass. 562,994 Charlotte, N.C. 610,949