Biggest US Cities in 1940 - Historical Population Data

Cities in Bold = State Capitals

Top 100 Biggest US Cities In The Year 1940

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	–

View Biggest US Cities From Different Years

1800s	1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890
1900s	1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990
2000s	2000 2010 2020 2022

What was the largest city in the US in 1940?

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.

What was the overall population of the United States in 1940?

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.

What was the demographic makeup of the United States in 1940?

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%).

What was the overall population of the world in 1940?

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.