| Rank | City | 1940 Population | Growth Rate (Annual) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York, NY | 7,454,995 | 0.7% |
| 2 | Chicago, IL | 3,396,808 | 0.1% |
| 3 | Philadelphia, PA | 1,931,334 | -0.1% |
| 4 | Detroit, MI | 1,623,452 | 0.3% |
| 5 | Los Angeles, CA | 1,504,277 | 2.0% |
| 6 | Cleveland, OH | 878,336 | -0.2% |
| 7 | Baltimore, MD | 859,100 | 0.7% |
| 8 | St. Louis, MO | 816,048 | -0.1% |
| 9 | Boston, MA | 770,816 | -0.1% |
| 10 | Pittsburgh, PA | 671,659 | 0.0% |
| 11 | Washington, DC | 663,091 | 3.1% |
| 12 | San Francisco, CA | 634,536 | 0.0% |
| 13 | Milwaukee, WI | 587,472 | 0.2% |
| 14 | Buffalo, NY | 575,901 | 0.0% |
| 15 | New Orleans, LA | 494,537 | 0.8% |
| 16 | Minneapolis, MN | 492,370 | 0.6% |
| 17 | Cincinnati, OH | 455,610 | 0.1% |
| 18 | Newark, NJ | 429,760 | -0.3% |
| 19 | Kansas City, MO | 399,178 | -0.0% |
| 20 | Indianapolis, IN | 386,972 | 0.6% |
| 21 | Houston, TX | 384,514 | 2.8% |
| 22 | Seattle, WA | 368,302 | 0.1% |
| 23 | Rochester, NY | 324,975 | -0.1% |
| 24 | Denver, CO | 322,412 | 1.1% |
| 25 | Louisville, KY | 319,077 | 0.4% |
| 26 | Columbus, OH | 306,087 | 0.5% |
| 27 | Portland, OR | 305,394 | 0.1% |
| 28 | Atlanta, GA | 302,288 | 1.1% |
| 29 | Oakland, CA | 302,163 | 0.6% |
| 30 | Jersey City, NJ | 301,173 | -0.5% |
| 31 | Dallas, TX | 294,734 | 1.2% |
| 32 | Memphis, TN | 292,942 | 1.5% |
| 33 | St. Paul, MN | 287,736 | 0.6% |
| 34 | Toledo, OH | 282,349 | -0.3% |
| 35 | Birmingham, AL | 267,583 | 0.3% |
| 36 | San Antonio, TX | 253,854 | 0.9% |
| 37 | Providence, RI | 253,504 | 0.0% |
| 38 | Akron, OH | 244,791 | -0.4% |
| 39 | Omaha, NE | 223,844 | 0.5% |
| 40 | Dayton, OH | 210,718 | 0.5% |
| 41 | Syracuse, NY | 205,967 | -0.2% |
| 42 | Oklahoma City, OK | 204,424 | 1.0% |
| 43 | San Diego, CA | 203,341 | 3.2% |
| 44 | Worcester, MA | 193,694 | -0.1% |
| 45 | Richmond, VA | 193,042 | 0.5% |
| 46 | Fort Worth, TX | 177,662 | 0.8% |
| 47 | Jacksonville, FL | 173,065 | 2.9% |
| 48 | Miami, FL | 172,172 | 4.5% |
| 49 | Youngstown, OH | 167,720 | -0.1% |
| 50 | Nashville, TN | 167,402 | 0.8% |
| 51 | Hartford, CT | 166,267 | 0.1% |
| 52 | Grand Rapids, MI | 164,292 | -0.3% |
| 53 | Long Beach, CA | 164,271 | 1.5% |
| 54 | New Haven, CT | 160,605 | -0.1% |
| 55 | Des Moines, IA | 159,819 | 1.1% |
| 56 | Flint, MI | 151,543 | -0.3% |
| 57 | Salt Lake City, UT | 149,934 | 0.7% |
| 58 | Springfield, MA | 149,554 | -0.0% |
| 59 | Bridgeport, CT | 147,121 | 0.0% |
| 60 | Norfolk, VA | 144,332 | 1.1% |
| 61 | Yonkers, NY | 142,598 | 0.6% |
| 62 | Tulsa, OK | 142,157 | 0.1% |
| 63 | Scranton, PA | 140,404 | -0.2% |
| 64 | Paterson, NJ | 139,656 | 0.1% |
| 65 | Albany, NY | 130,577 | 0.2% |
| 66 | Chattanooga, TN | 128,163 | 0.7% |
| 67 | Trenton, NJ | 124,697 | 0.1% |
| 68 | Spokane, WA | 122,001 | 0.5% |
| 69 | Kansas City, KS | 121,458 | -0.0% |
| 70 | Fort Wayne, IN | 118,410 | 0.3% |
| 71 | Camden, NJ | 117,536 | -0.1% |
| 72 | Erie, PA | 116,955 | 0.1% |
| 73 | Fall River, MA | 115,428 | 0.0% |
| 74 | Wichita, KS | 114,966 | 0.3% |
| 75 | Wilmington, DE | 112,504 | 0.5% |
| 76 | Gary, IN | 111,719 | 1.1% |
| 77 | Knoxville, TN | 111,580 | 0.5% |
| 78 | Cambridge, MA | 110,879 | -0.2% |
| 79 | Reading, PA | 110,568 | -0.1% |
| 80 | New Bedford, MA | 110,341 | -0.2% |
| 81 | Elizabeth, NJ | 109,912 | -0.4% |
| 82 | Tacoma, WA | 109,408 | 0.2% |
| 83 | Canton, OH | 108,401 | 0.3% |
| 84 | Tampa, FL | 108,391 | 0.7% |
| 85 | Sacramento, CA | 105,958 | 1.2% |
| 86 | Peoria, IL | 105,087 | 0.0% |
| 87 | Somerville, MA | 102,177 | -0.2% |
| 88 | Lowell, MA | 101,389 | 0.1% |
| 89 | South Bend, IN | 101,268 | -0.3% |
| 90 | Duluth, MN | 101,065 | -0.0% |
| 91 | Charlotte, NC | 100,899 | – |
| 92 | Utica, NY | 100,518 | -0.1% |
| 93 | Waterbury, CT | 99,314 | -0.1% |
| 94 | Shreveport, LA | 98,167 | – |
| 95 | Lynn, MA | 98,123 | -0.4% |
| 96 | Evansville, IN | 97,062 | -0.5% |
| 97 | Allentown, PA | 96,904 | 0.5% |
| 98 | El Paso, TX | 96,810 | -0.6% |
| 99 | Savannah, GA | 95,996 | – |
| 100 | Little Rock, AR | 88,039 | – |
Cities in Bold = State Capitals
In 1940, the largest city in the US was New York, with a population of 7,454,995. The second largest city was Chicago, with a population of 3,396,808. The third largest US city in 1940 was Philadelphia, with a population of 1,931,334.
The total population of the United States in 1940 was 132,164,569. In 1940, the top 10 largest cities held 15.1% of the population of the country. The top 100 cities accounted for 29.3% of the entire country's population.
The racial demographics of the United States in 1940 were as follows: White population of 118,683,782 (89.8%), Black population of 12,952,127 (9.8%), American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut population of 396,493 (0.3%), Asian and Pacific Islander population of 264,329 (0.2%).
The overall population of the world in 1940 was around 2,324,000,000. In 1940 the United States population accounted for about 5.7% of the world's total population.
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