1950 cities population

[Bruce]

Washington's numbers, 1950 vs 2020:

State	1950	2020
Washington	2,378,963	7,705,281

County	1950	2020
King	732,992	2,269,675
Pierce	275,876	921,130
Snohomish	111,580	827,957

Snohomish County was the 5th largest county in 1950 and is now 3rd.

City	1950	2020
Seattle	467,591	737,015
Spokane	161,721	228,989

Tacoma

143,673

219,346

Vancouver

41,664

190,915

Bellevue

7,658

151,854

Kent

3,278

136,588

Everett

33,849

110,629

Sources: HistoryLink, Wikipedia

[Flint1979]

Washington's numbers, 1950 vs 2020:

State	1950	2020
Washington	2,378,963	7,705,281

County	1950	2020
King	732,992	2,269,675
Pierce	275,876	921,130
Snohomish	111,580	827,957

Snohomish County was the 5th largest county in 1950 and is now 3rd.

City	1950	2020
Seattle	467,591	737,015
Spokane	161,721	228,989

Tacoma

143,673

219,346

Vancouver

41,664

190,915

Bellevue

7,658

151,854

Kent

3,278

136,588

Everett

33,849

110,629

Sources: HistoryLink, Wikipedia

I think the population differences in Bellevue and Kent are the most striking.

[Max Rockatansky]

Gilbert, AZ

1950:  1,114
2020:  267,918

[tolbs17]

Gilbert, AZ

1950:  1,114
2020:  267,918

A suburb of Phoenix. Just like how many other suburbs of cities boomed.

[Max Rockatansky]

Gilbert, AZ

1950:  1,114
2020:  267,918

A suburb of Phoenix. Just like how many other suburbs of cities boomed.

Well excuse me that I didn't post something North Carolina related.

And actually Gilbert wasn't originally a suburb of Phoenix.  It was an Arizona Eastern Railway siding established in 1902. 

[Henry]

The 100 largest cities in 1950:

New York, NY--7,891,957
Chicago, IL--3,620,962
Philadelphia, PA--2,071,605
Los Angeles, CA--1,970,358
Detroit, MI--1,849,568
Baltimore, MD--949,708
Cleveland, OH--914,808
St. Louis, MO--856,796
Washington, DC--802,178
Boston, MA--801,444
San Francisco, CA--775,357
Pittsburgh, PA--676,806
Milwaukee, WI--637,392
Houston, TX--596,163
Buffalo, NY--580,132
New Orleans, LA--570,445
Minneapolis, MN--521,718
Cincinnati, OH--503,998
Seattle, WA--467,591
Kansas City, MO--456,622
Newark, NJ--438,776
Dallas, TX--434,462
Indianpolis, IN--427,173
Denver, CO--415,786
San Antonio, TX--408,442
Memphis, TN--396,000
Oakland, CA--384,575
Columbus, OH--375,901
Portland, OR--373,628
Louisville, KY--369,129
San Diego, CA--334,387
Rochester, NY--332,488
Atlanta, GA--331,314
Birmingham, AL--326,037
St. Paul, MN--311,349
Toledo, OH--303,616
Jersey City, NJ--299,017
Fort Worth, TX--278,778
Akron, OH--274,605
Omaha, NE--251,117
Long Beach, CA--250,767
Miami, FL--249,276
Providence, RI--248,674
Dayton, OH--243,872
Oklahoma City, OK--243,504
Richmond, VA--230,310
Syracuse, NY--220,583
Norfolk, VA--213,513
Jacksonville, FL--204,517
Worcester, MA--203,486
Tulsa, OK--182,740
Salt Lake City, UT--182,121
Des Moines, IA--177,965
Hartford, CT--177,397
Grand Rapids, MI--176,515
Nashville, TN--174,307
Youngstown, OH--168,330
Wichita, KS--168,279
New Haven, CT--164,443
Flint, MI--163,143
Springfield, MA--162,399
Spokane, WA--161,721
Bridgeport, CT--158,709
Yonkers, NY--152,798
Tacoma, WA--143,673
Paterson, NJ--139,336
Sacramento, CA--137,572
Arlington, VA--135,449
Albany, NY--134,995
Charlotte, NC--134,042
Gary, IN--133,911
Ft. Wayne, IN--133,607
Austin, TX--132,459
Chattanooga, TN--131,041
Erie, PA--130,803
El Paso, TX--130,485
Kansas City, KS--129,553
Mobile, AL--129,009
Evansville, IN--128,636
Trenton, NJ--128,009
Shreveport, LA--127,206
Baton Rouge, LA--125,629
Scranton, PA--125,536
Knoxville, TN--124,769
Tampa, FL--124,681
Camden, NJ--124,555
Cambridge, MA--120,740
Savannah, GA--119,638
Canton, OH--116,912
South Bend, IN--115,911
Berkeley, CA--113,805
Elizabeth, NJ--112,817
Fall River, MA--111,963
Peoria, IL--111,856
Wilmington, DE--110,356
Reading, PA--109,320
New Bedford, MA--109,189
Corpus Christi, TX--108,287
Phoenix, AZ--106,818
Allentown, PA--106,756

[tolbs17]

And it's ironic of how Phoenix grew rapidly over so many decades.

[Max Rockatansky]

And it's ironic of how Phoenix grew rapidly over so many decades.

How is it ironic?  Is like rain on your wedding day?

[MATraveler128]

It's hard to believe that 72 years ago, Las Vegas had a population of 24,624. It is now 621,903 as of 2022.

[GaryV]

Michigan suburb example
Sterling Heights: 6500 (1950), 134000 (2020)

[tolbs17]

And it's ironic of how Phoenix grew rapidly over so many decades.

How is it ironic?  Is like rain on your wedding day?

Yes. There was an exodus of people moving to the south and west in those early days. It's ironic because I don't think the city was prepared for explosive growth.. population jumped to 400,000 in 1960.

[hotdogPi]

This is like the "objectively worst" debate again, just with a different word.

[GaryV]

ironic

https://tenor.com/view/princess-bride-you-keep-using-that-word-i-dont-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means-gif-15708582

[Max Rockatansky]

ironic

https://tenor.com/view/princess-bride-you-keep-using-that-word-i-dont-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means-gif-15708582

Inconceivable!

[JayhawkCO]

Aurora, CO
1950 - 11,421
2020 - 386,261

The smallest decade over decade population growth we've had since the city was incorporated is 17.6%.

[DTComposer]

Here's a list of cities that had under 200,000 people in 1950 and had over 500,000 in 2020 (alphabetical order):

City	1950	2020
Albuquerque	96,815	564,559
Austin	132,459	961,855
Charlotte	134,042	874,579
El Paso	130,485	678,815
Fresno	91,669	542,107
Las Vegas	24,624	641,903
Mesa	16,790	504,258
Nashville	174,307	689,447*
Phoenix	106,818	1,608,139
Sacramento	137,572	524,943
San Jose	95,280	1,013,240
Tucson	45,454	542,629

*Consolidated with county in 1963

[Max Rockatansky]

And it's ironic of how Phoenix grew rapidly over so many decades.

How is it ironic?  Is like rain on your wedding day?

Yes. There was an exodus of people moving to the south and west in those early days. It's ironic because I don't think the city was prepared for explosive growth.. population jumped to 400,000 in 1960.

Sunnyslope was annexed into Phoenix in 1959.  There was also further annexations that probably make it seem on the surface like the population boom was larger than it was in Phoenix.

[JayhawkCO]

Here's a list of cities that had under 200,000 people in 1950 and had over 500,000 in 2020 (alphabetical order):

City	1950	2020
Albuquerque	96,815	564,559
Austin	132,459	961,855
Charlotte	134,042	874,579
El Paso	130,485	678,815
Fresno	91,669	542,107
Las Vegas	24,624	641,903
Mesa	16,790	504,258
Nashville	174,307	689,447*
Phoenix	106,818	1,608,139
Sacramento	137,572	524,943
San Jose	95,280	1,013,240
Tucson	45,454	542,629

*Consolidated with county in 1963

And Jacksonville just barely above the threshold at 204,275 in 1950 and 949,611 in 2020.

[andrepoiy]

When Houston had as many people as Buffalo NY... wow

[triplemultiplex]

When Houston had as many people as Buffalo NY... wow

Yeah, no wonder planners overlooked the Houston-Texarkana corridor for an interstate back then.

[Henry]

And now, let's see the same 100 cities and how they changed in 2020:

New York, NY--7,891,957 (now 8,804,190)
Chicago, IL--3,620,962 (now 2,746,388)
Philadelphia, PA--2,071,605 (now 1,603,797)
Los Angeles, CA--1,970,358 (now 3,898,747)
Detroit, MI--1,849,568 (now 639,111)
Baltimore, MD--949,708 (now 585,708)
Cleveland, OH--914,808 (now 372,624)
St. Louis, MO--856,796 (now 301,578)
Washington, DC--802,178 (now 689,545)
Boston, MA--801,444 (now 675,647)
San Francisco, CA--775,357 (now 873,965)
Pittsburgh, PA--676,806 (now 302,971)
Milwaukee, WI--637,392 (now 577,222)
Houston, TX--596,163 (now 2,304,580)
Buffalo, NY--580,132 (now 278,349)
New Orleans, LA--570,445 (now 383,997)
Minneapolis, MN--521,718 (now 429,954)
Cincinnati, OH--503,998 (now 309,317)
Seattle, WA--467,591 (now 737,015)
Kansas City, MO--456,622 (now 508,090)
Newark, NJ--438,776 (now 311,549)
Dallas, TX--434,462 (now 1,304,379)
Indianpolis, IN--427,173 (now 887,642)
Denver, CO--415,786 (now 715,522)
San Antonio, TX--408,442 (now 1,434,625)
Memphis, TN--396,000 (now 633,104)
Oakland, CA--384,575 (now 440,646)
Columbus, OH--375,901 (now 905,748)
Portland, OR--373,628 (now 652,503)
Louisville, KY--369,129 (now 633,045)
San Diego, CA--334,387 (now 1,386,932)
Rochester, NY--332,488 (now 211,328)
Atlanta, GA--331,314 (now 498,715)
Birmingham, AL--326,037 (now 200,733)
St. Paul, MN--311,349 (now 311,527)
Toledo, OH--303,616 (now 270,871)
Jersey City, NJ--299,017 (now 292,449)
Fort Worth, TX--278,778 (now 918,915)
Akron, OH--274,605 (now 190,469)
Omaha, NE--251,117 (now 486,051)
Long Beach, CA--250,767 (now 466,742)
Miami, FL--249,276 (now 442,241)
Providence, RI--248,674 (now 190,934)
Dayton, OH--243,872 (now 137,644)
Oklahoma City, OK--243,504 (now 681,054)
Richmond, VA--230,310 (now 226,610)
Syracuse, NY--220,583 (now 148,620)
Norfolk, VA--213,513 (now 238,005)
Jacksonville, FL--204,517 (now 949,611)
Worcester, MA--203,486 (now 206,518)
Tulsa, OK--182,740 (now 413,066)
Salt Lake City, UT--182,121 (now 199,723)
Des Moines, IA--177,965 (now 214,133)
Hartford, CT--177,397 (now 121,054)
Grand Rapids, MI--176,515 (now 198,917)
Nashville, TN--174,307 (now 689,447)
Youngstown, OH--168,330 (now 60,068)
Wichita, KS--168,279 (now 397,532)
New Haven, CT--164,443 (now 134,023)
Flint, MI--163,143 (now 81,252)
Springfield, MA--162,399 (now 155,929)
Spokane, WA--161,721 (now 228,989)
Bridgeport, CT--158,709 (now 148,654)
Yonkers, NY--152,798 (now 211,569)
Tacoma, WA--143,673 (now 219,346)
Paterson, NJ--139,336 (now 159,732)
Sacramento, CA--137,572 (now 524,943)
Arlington, VA--135,449 (now 238,643)*
Albany, NY--134,995 (now 99,224)
Charlotte, NC--134,042 (now 874,579)
Gary, IN--133,911 (now 69,093)
Ft. Wayne, IN--133,607 (now 263,886)
Austin, TX--132,459 (now 961,855)
Chattanooga, TN--131,041 (now 181,099)
Erie, PA--130,803 (now 93,928)
El Paso, TX--130,485 (now 678,815)
Kansas City, KS--129,553 (now 156,607)
Mobile, AL--129,009 (now 187,041)
Evansville, IN--128,636 (now 117,298)
Trenton, NJ--128,009 (now 90,871)
Shreveport, LA--127,206 (now 187,593)
Baton Rouge, LA--125,629 (now 227,470)
Scranton, PA--125,536 (now 76,328)
Knoxville, TN--124,769 (now 190,740)
Tampa, FL--124,681 (now 384,959)
Camden, NJ--124,555 (now 71,791)
Cambridge, MA--120,740 (now 118,403)
Savannah, GA--119,638 (now 147,780)
Canton, OH--116,912 (now 70,872)
South Bend, IN--115,911 (now 103,453)
Berkeley, CA--113,805 (now 124,321)
Elizabeth, NJ--112,817 (now 137,298)
Fall River, MA--111,963 (now 94,000)
Peoria, IL--111,856 (now 113,150)
Wilmington, DE--110,356 (now 70,898)
Reading, PA--109,320 (now 95,112)
New Bedford, MA--109,189 (now 101,079)
Corpus Christi, TX--108,287 (now 317,863)
Phoenix, AZ--106,818 (now 1,608,139)
Allentown, PA--106,756 (now 125,845)

So now we have twice as many cities of over 1 million people as we did in 1950, and of the five such cities from then, only Detroit is no longer a member of that club. As for Arlington, it gets an asterisk because sometime after 1950, the census takers realized that it would rather be called a county, and reclassified it as such (but that didn't stop it from growing either). By the way, two-thirds of the country's largest cities in the current census didn't even reach the 100,000 mark in 1950!

[mgk920]

A few growing Rust Belt cities

Yep, totally plays into the coastal narrative that the Midwest is just a dying, worthless hellhole where only old conservative curmudgeons still live.

Out of those, Green Bay is the only one that gets my notice.  The other cities are barely Rust Belt, and NYC just ain't.

The City of Green Bay annexed the adjacent (east) township of Preble in about 1964, which added substantial population and land area to the city.  Since the 1960s, the City of Green Bay has annexed very little land area but has seen several large adjacent townships incorporate and has also had substantial infill development,especially in the former Preble Township.  Those separate former townships that incorporated (ie, Howard, Bellvue, etc) are rapidly developing and all together the metro area is now likely well over 250K in total population.

Mike

[skluth]

A few growing Rust Belt cities

Yep, totally plays into the coastal narrative that the Midwest is just a dying, worthless hellhole where only old conservative curmudgeons still live.

Out of those, Green Bay is the only one that gets my notice.  The other cities are barely Rust Belt, and NYC just ain't.

The City of Green Bay annexed the adjacent (east) township of Preble in about 1964, which added substantial population and land area to the city.  Since the 1960s, the City of Green Bay has annexed very little land area but has seen several large adjacent townships incorporate and has also had substantial infill development,especially in the former Preble Township.  Those separate former townships that incorporated (ie, Howard, Bellvue, etc) are rapidly developing and all together the metro area is now likely well over 250K in total population.

Mike

Preble had about 12K at the time. IIRC, most of that was immediately adjacent to the city (I was 8 and living in Allouez so it's vague.). Edison Junior High opened in September 1970 in the middle of farm fields (I was one of the inaugural group of students) but today is well within the subdivided parts of the city. There are still farm fields along the far east side.

Green Bay also annexed the large area southwest of I-US/41 post-WWII though I don't know exactly when. This 1956 map from the Wisconsin State Atlas shows Brown County at that time.

[SkyPesos]

When Houston had as many people as Buffalo NY... wow

Yeah, no wonder planners overlooked the Houston-Texarkana corridor for an interstate back then.

The I-69E/69/369 corridor in TX would've been a no-brainer if the 1950s planners predicted Houston's explosive growth! Not connecting Houston to the Midwest and Northeast was a mistake imo.

[JayhawkCO]

Here is a list of the top 100 cities in 2020, sorted by their growth percentage since 1950.

City	State	2020	1950	Change %
Irvine	California	307670	0	Infinity
Santa Clarita	California	228673	0	Infinity
Fremont	California	230504	0	Infinity
Gilbert	Arizona	267918	1114	23,950
Plano	Texas	285494	2126	13,329
Scottsdale	Arizona	241361	2032	11,778
Irving	Texas	256684	2621	9,693
Henderson	Nevada	317610	3643	8,618
Virginia Beach	Virginia	459470	5390	8,424
Chandler	Arizona	275987	3799	7,165
North Las Vegas	Nevada	262527	3875	6,675
Arlington	Texas	394266	7692	5,026
Aurora	Colorado	386261	11421	3,282
Glendale	Arizona	248325	8179	2,936
Mesa	Arizona	504258	16790	2,903
Las Vegas	Nevada	641903	24624	2,507
Anchorage	Alaska	291247	11254	2,488
Anaheim	California	346824	14556	2,283
Garland	Texas	246018	10571	2,227
Chula Vista	California	275487	15927	1,630
Phoenix	Arizona	1608139	106818	1,405
Tucson	Arizona	542629	45454	1,094
Bakersfield	California	403455	34784	1,060
San Jose	California	1013240	95280	963
Colorado Springs	Colorado	478961	45472	953
Reno	Nevada	264165	32497	713
Austin	Texas	961855	132459	626
Raleigh	North Carolina	467665	65679	612
Boise	Idaho	235684	34393	585
Santa Ana	California	310227	45533	581
Riverside	California	314998	46764	574
Charlotte	North Carolina	874579	134042	552
Fresno	California	542107	91669	491
Orlando	Florida	307573	52367	487
Albuquerque	New Mexico	564559	96815	483
Lexington	Kentucky	322570	55534	481
El Paso	Texas	678815	130485	420
Laredo	Texas	255205	51910	392
Jacksonville	Florida	949611	204517	364
Stockton	California	320804	70853	353
San Diego	California	1386932	334387	315
Greensboro	North Carolina	299035	74389	302
Durham	North Carolina	283506	71311	298
Nashville	Tennessee	689447	174307	296
Houston	Texas	2304580	596163	287
Sacramento	California	524943	137572	282
Lubbock	Texas	257141	71747	258
San Antonio	Texas	1434625	408442	251
Fort Worth	Texas	918915	278778	230
Tampa	Florida	384959	124681	209
Dallas	Texas	1304379	434462	200
Lincoln	Nebraska	291082	98884	194
Corpus Christi	Texas	317863	108287	194
Winston—Salem	North Carolina	249545	87881	184
Madison	Wisconsin	269840	96056	181
Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	681054	243504	180
St. Petersburg	Florida	258308	96738	167
Chesapeake	Virginia	249422	99537	151
Columbus	Ohio	905748	375901	141
Wichita	Kansas	397532	168279	136
Tulsa	Oklahoma	413066	182740	126
Indianapolis	Indiana	887642	427173	108
Los Angeles	California	3898747	1970358	98
Fort Wayne	Indiana	263886	133607	98
Omaha	Nebraska	486051	251117	94
Long Beach	California	466742	250767	86
Baton Rouge	Louisiana	227470	125629	81
Miami	Florida	442241	249276	77
Portland	Oregon	652503	373628	75
Denver	Colorado	715522	415786	72
Louisville	Kentucky	633045	369129	71
Memphis	Tennessee	633104	396000	60
Seattle	Washington	737015	467591	58
Atlanta	Georgia	498715	331314	51
Spokane	Washington	228989	161721	42
Honolulu	Hawaii	350964	248034	41
Oakland	California	440646	384575	15
San Francisco	California	873965	775357	13
New York	New York	8804190	7891957	12
Norfolk	Virginia	238005	213513	11
Kansas City	Missouri	508090	456622	11
Saint Paul	Minnesota	311527	311349	0
Richmond	Virginia	226610	230310	-2
Jersey City	New Jersey	292449	299017	-2
Milwaukee	Wisconsin	577222	637392	-9
Toledo	Ohio	270871	303616	-11
Washington	District of Columbia	689545	802178	-14
Boston	Massachusetts	675647	801444	-16
Minneapolis	Minnesota	429954	521718	-18
Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	1603797	2071605	-23
Chicago	Illinois	2746388	3620962	-24
Newark	New Jersey	311549	438776	-29
New Orleans	Louisiana	383997	570445	-33
Baltimore	Maryland	585708	949708	-38
Cincinnati	Ohio	309317	503998	-39
Buffalo	New York	278349	580132	-52
Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	302971	676808	-55
Cleveland	Ohio	372624	914808	-59
St. Louis	Missouri	301578	856798	-65
Detroit	Michigan	639111	1849568	-65