What’s the Largest City in the US?

Your answer to this question may be New York City, which is correct as far as population, but what about land area? I used to assume that either New York City or Los Angeles occupied more land than any other city, because they are not only heavily populated, but vast, yet neither of these cities are the largest by land size!

Would it surprise you if I told you that the top four largest cities in the US by land size are all within America’s third least populated state? It seems unlikely, but it may help to know that this underpopulated state is also America’s largest state by land size: Alaska.

That’s correct, Alaska is home to the largest city by land size; Sitka, Alaska possesses more land than any other American city! I suppose it’s not as perplexing as I originally thought, especially when considering that Alaska is affluent in land.

Sitka has nearly as much land as Rhode Island and Delaware combined! New York City is the most densely populated city in the US, with a density of approximately 29,000 people per square mile, but in contrast, Sitka’s density is only approximately 3 people per square mile! That makes New York City 9,667 times more densely populated than Sitka! New York City is the most populated and most densely populated city in the US, and Sitka has the largest area but the some of the least population density in the US.

Here is a list of the largest cities by population and area:

Largest Cities by Population (2022 Population)

1. New York City, NY (8,622,357)
2. Los Angeles, CA (4,085,014)
3. Chicago, IL (2,670,406)
4. Houston, TX (2,378,146)
5. Phoenix, AZ (1,743,469)
6. Philadelphia, PA (1,590,402)
7. San Antonio, TX (1,579,504)
8. San Diego, CA (1,469,490)
9. Dallas, TX (1,400,337)
10. San Jose, CA (1,036,242)

Largest Cities by Area (Square Miles)

1. Sitka, AK (2,870)
2. Juneau, AK (2,704)
3. Wrangell, AK (2,556)
4. Anchorage, AK (1,707)
5. Tribune, KS (778)
6. Jacksonville, FL (747)
7. Anaconda, MT (737)
8. Butte, MT (716)
9. Houston, TX (640)
10. Oklahoma City, OK (606)

To me, it is interesting to note that the most populous cities are typically adjacent to an ocean or large body of water, and the ones with the most land are generally within one of the least populous states.

Have you visited America’s largest city (by area)?

Onward American 🇺🇸

Source: Top 200 Largest US Cities by Population

Source: US Cities by Area