Hierarchy of cities in your state

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN:
Tier 1: Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area
Tier 2: Duluth, Rochester
Tier 3: Bemidji, Brainerd, Moorhead, St. Cloud

I would add Mankato to your tier 3, but my real question is how is Bemidji on the same level as St. Cloud? And Shouldn't St. Cloud be Tier 2?

St. Cloud was the one city I had trouble deciding which slot it should go into. My list wasn't based on any metric other than observation about how people here seem to regard these cities. If we were going by population alone it would be a clear tier 2 city, but as the metro"˜s outreach has expanded to the point where some consider St. Cloud to have become an exoburban outpost of the Twin Cities, I think that may have hurt its standing somewhat. Other than SCSU, it also doesn't really have anything of importance. It's just...there.

(And yeah, Tier 3 has quite a few more cities that fit, I just didn't feel like continuing at that point I guess)

[DTComposer]

This would be my perception, based mainly on economic and social/cultural influence. The first part is pretty close to population order (in parentheses).

1. Los Angeles (1)
2. San Francisco (4)
3. San Diego (2)
4. San Jose (3)
5. Sacramento (6)
6. Oakland (8)
7. Long Beach (7)
8. Fresno (5)
9. Anaheim (10)
10. Bakersfield (9)

Next tier, no particular order. Secondary urban centers with significant business/retail districts, and anchor cities of medium metropolitan areas:
Santa Ana, Riverside, San Bernardino, Pasadena, Glendale, Irvine, Stockton, Modesto, Berkeley, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Santa Rosa

[kphoger]

Well, for better or worse, in Illinois the hierarchy is fairly straightforward:

1. Chicago.
2. All others.

I'd change that a bit.

1) Chicago
2) Springfield
3) what other cities?

How does this look?

I. Chicago

II. Springfield
II. suburban Saint Louis

III. Champaign—Urbana
III. Rockford
III. Peoria
III. Bloomington—Normal

IV. Decatur
IV. Moline

V. Carbondale

[GaryV]

Michigan

Detroit
Grand Rapids
Lansing
Rest of state

Mine (suburban cities "belong" to their central city), with cities within the tiers in no particular order:
Tier 1: Detroit
Tier 2: GR and Lansing
Tier 3: Kalamazoo, Flint, Ann Arbor
Tier 4: Saginaw/Bay City/Midland (either separately or as Tri-Cities), Battle Creek, Jackson
Tier 5: Benton Harbor/St Joseph, Holland, Muskegon, Port Huron
Tier 6: Included because of their regional importance) Traverse City, Mt. Pleasant, Big Rapids, Marquette
Tier 7: Important to smaller regions: Escanaba, Alpena, Gaylord, Sault Ste. Marie, Houghton, Ludington

[gonealookin]

Nevada:

1. Nationally important:
Las Vegas with adjacent cities in the valley

2. Biggest little city and has significant airline service:
Reno/Sparks

3. Employment center (state govt.) and big enough for two Walmarts:
Carson City

4. Big enough for one Walmart:
Boulder City
Elko
Fallon
Fernley
Mesquite
Minden/Gardnerville*
Pahrump* (I try to forget that place exists, and succeeded this morning when I was making this list)

5. Highway pit stops with enough food and motel (and casino) options that you could spend a night:
Ely
Tonopah*
West Wendover
Winnemucca

6. The rest aren't much more than a few gas station/mini-marts and the inevitable sawdust joint casino.

*Bigger than Tier 6 so they should be listed, but they aren't incorporated cities.

[Brandon]

Indiana

Tier 2b: Similar to the super regional centers, only their region of influence is a little smaller, large enough to have TV markets (or close)
-South Bend-Mishawaka
-Northwest Indiana suburbs (Lake and Porter Counties)

Nothing in Northwest Indiana?

Read again.

[hbelkins]

Not going on just population, but on a number of other factors.

For Kentucky:
1. Lexington
2. Cincinnati urban area on the south side of the river
3. Bowling Green
4. Ashland
5. Owensboro
6. Frankfort
7. Richmond
8. Paducah
9. Somerset
10. Hopkinsville

For West Virginia:
1. Charleston
2. Huntington
3. Morgantown
4. Wheeling
5. Beckley
6. Clarksburg-Fairmont
7. Parkersburg
8. Weirton
9. Lewisburg
10. Elkins

For Indiana:
1. Indianapolis
2. Louisville 

[frankenroad]

For Ohio, I'd say

Tier 1 - Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati
Tier 2 - Dayton, Toledo, Akron, Canton, Youngstown
Tier 3 - Hamilton, Middletown, Springfield, Warren
Tier 4 - Zanesville, Findlay, Chillicothe, Lancaster, Delaware, Marion, Sandusky, Mansfield, Lorain, maybe a couple others??
Tier 5 - any county seat not listed above, plus Oxford & Kent

[Roadgeekteen]

Not going on just population, but on a number of other factors.

For Kentucky:
1. Lexington
2. Cincinnati urban area on the south side of the river
3. Bowling Green
4. Ashland
5. Owensboro
6. Frankfort
7. Richmond
8. Paducah
9. Somerset
10. Hopkinsville

For West Virginia:
1. Charleston
2. Huntington
3. Morgantown
4. Wheeling
5. Beckley
6. Clarksburg-Fairmont
7. Parkersburg
8. Weirton
9. Lewisburg
10. Elkins

For Indiana:
1. Indianapolis
2. Louisville 

Did Indiana invade Kentucky or something?

[CtrlAltDel]

Not going on just population, but on a number of other factors.

For Indiana:
1. Indianapolis
2. Louisville 

Did Indiana invade Kentucky or something?

I'm pretty sure this is joke related to the disdain hbelkins feels toward Louisville, as expressed in his avatar.

[webny99]

Not going on just population, but on a number of other factors.

For Indiana:
1. Indianapolis
2. Louisville 

Did Indiana invade Kentucky or something?

I'm pretty sure this is joke related to the disdain hbelkins feels toward Louisville, as expressed in his avatar.

I was actually going to comment that he excluded Louisville... before I saw the bottom of the post.

[CtrlAltDel]

Well, for better or worse, in Illinois the hierarchy is fairly straightforward:

1. Chicago.
2. All others.

I'd change that a bit.

1) Chicago
2) Springfield
3) what other cities?

How does this look?

I. Chicago

II. Springfield
II. suburban Saint Louis

III. Champaign–Urbana
III. Rockford
III. Peoria
III. Bloomington–Normal

IV. Decatur
IV. Moline

V. Carbondale

How dare you make me think about this for real!

Anyway, this is what I’ve come up with. With multistate regions, consider only that part in Illinois.

1.
Chicago

2.
Saint Louis

3.
Rockford
Peoria

4.
Springfield
Urbana-Champaign
Bloomington-Normal
Quad Cities

5.
Carbondale
Kankakee
Decatur
DeKalb

[Konza]

Haven't been here all that long, but:

1.  Phoenix and its suburbs
2.  Tucson
3.  Flagstaff
4.  Yuma
5.  Prescott/Sedona
6.  Casa Grande
7.  Cochise County (Mostly Sierra Vista, but Bisbee and Douglas as well)
8.  Lake Havasu City
9.  Nogales
10.  Kingman

Over 80% of Arizona's population resides in either the Phoenix Tucson metro areas.

[ftballfan]

Michigan

Detroit
Grand Rapids
Lansing
Rest of state

Mine (suburban cities "belong" to their central city), with cities within the tiers in no particular order:
Tier 1: Detroit
Tier 2: GR and Lansing
Tier 3: Kalamazoo, Flint, Ann Arbor
Tier 4: Saginaw/Bay City/Midland (either separately or as Tri-Cities), Battle Creek, Jackson
Tier 5: Benton Harbor/St Joseph, Holland, Muskegon, Port Huron
Tier 6: Included because of their regional importance) Traverse City, Mt. Pleasant, Big Rapids, Marquette
Tier 7: Important to smaller regions: Escanaba, Alpena, Gaylord, Sault Ste. Marie, Houghton, Ludington

Arguably Traverse City could fall into tier 4 or 5 (Traverse City has a Costco while none of the other cities listed under Tier 5 have one AFAIK)

[KeithE4Phx]

Haven't been here all that long, but:

1.  Phoenix and its suburbs
2.  Tucson
3.  Flagstaff
4.  Yuma
5.  Prescott/Sedona
6.  Casa Grande
7.  Cochise County (Mostly Sierra Vista, but Bisbee and Douglas as well)
8.  Lake Havasu City
9.  Nogales
10.  Kingman

Over 80% of Arizona's population resides in either the Phoenix Tucson metro areas.

As one who's lived here for close to 30 years and has had family here for 60:

1.  Phoenix
2.  Scottsdale/Paradise Valley (Wealthiest Phoenix suburbs)
3.  Other Phoenix suburbs (Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Peoria, etc.)
4.  Tucson
5.  Flagstaff
6.  Prescott/Prescott Valley
7.  Pinal County (Casa Grande, Maricopa, Florence, Coolidge, Eloy, Apache Jct)
8.  Yuma
9.  Everywhere else, except...
10.  ... Mohave County (Kingman, Bullhead City, Golden Valley), aka the World's Largest Trailer Park

[EpicRoadways]

I know it's already been discussed, but here's my Minnesota take:

Tier 1: Minneapolis and St. Paul
Tier 2: Duluth, Rochester, Bloomington (being the most populous suburb and also the location of the airport and MOA)
Tier 3: St. Cloud, Mankato, and other populous suburbs (Woodbury, Maple Grove, Plymouth, etc.)
Tier 4: Brainerd, Bemidji, Moorhead
Tier 5: Albert Lea, Austin, Owatonna, Willmar, Virginia, Hibbing (the latter two pretty much just for historical purposes)

In some ways I feel like St. Cloud could be Tier 2 given how relatively urbanized the area is and how populous some of its suburbs are in relation to surrounding areas (heck, the five core cities that surround St. Cloud have a combined population almost as high as the city itself). Similarly you could argue that Mankato's population in relation to the surrounding area and overall prominence statewide is worthy of Tier 2 status. Moorhead could easily be Tier 3 or possibly even Tier 2 if you wanted to take into account the entire Fargo-Moorhead area given Fargo's presence on a national scale. The rest of them seem pretty self-explanatory and not too controversial  .

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

For Ohio, I'd say

Tier 1 - Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati
Tier 2 - Dayton, Toledo, Akron, Canton, Youngstown
Tier 3 - Hamilton, Middletown, Springfield, Warren
Tier 4 - Zanesville, Findlay, Chillicothe, Lancaster, Delaware, Marion, Sandusky, Mansfield, Lorain, maybe a couple others??
Tier 5 - any county seat not listed above, plus Oxford & Kent

How would you like to tier the 500 largest population centers in Ohio?
https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/ohio-population/cities/

[Roadgeekteen]

I know it's already been discussed, but here's my Minnesota take:

Tier 1: Minneapolis and St. Paul
Tier 2: Duluth, Rochester, Bloomington (being the most populous suburb and also the location of the airport and MOA)
Tier 3: St. Cloud, Mankato, and other populous suburbs (Woodbury, Maple Grove, Plymouth, etc.)
Tier 4: Brainerd, Bemidji, Moorhead
Tier 5: Albert Lea, Austin, Owatonna, Willmar, Virginia, Hibbing (the latter two pretty much just for historical purposes)

In some ways I feel like St. Cloud could be Tier 2 given how relatively urbanized the area is and how populous some of its suburbs are in relation to surrounding areas (heck, the five core cities that surround St. Cloud have a combined population almost as high as the city itself). Similarly you could argue that Mankato's population in relation to the surrounding area and overall prominence statewide is worthy of Tier 2 status. Moorhead could easily be Tier 3 or possibly even Tier 2 if you wanted to take into account the entire Fargo-Moorhead area given Fargo's presence on a national scale. The rest of them seem pretty self-explanatory and not too controversial  .

Is Albert Lea only on here because of the interstate junction?

[TravelingBethelite]

I'll give Texas a shot:

Tier 1 (nationally relevant & major population centers, including metro areas)

Dallas/Fort Worth
Houston

Tier 1a (nationally relevant, but to a slightly - just a little bit - lesser degree)

San Antonio

Tier 2 (regionally to nationally relevant)

Austin
El Paso

Tier 3 (regionally relevant)

Amarillo
Brownsville/Harlingen/McAllen
Corpus Christi
Laredo
Lubbock
Wichita Falls

Tier 4 (influence over a few counties, typically with their own radio market, or large suburbs)

Abilene
Beaumont/Port Arthur
Bryan/College Station
Galveston
Georgetown
Killeen/Temple
Lufkin/Nacogdoches
Midland/Odessa
Plano
Round Rock
San Angelo
Texarkana
Tyler/Longview
Victoria (on the edge)
Waco

Tier 5 (of significance in their local area)
Brownwood
Corsicana
Denison/Sherman
Gainesville
Jacksonville
Paris
Stephenville

Tier 6 - outposts of civilization (West Texas)
Alpine/Marfa
Brady
Childress
Dalhart
Del Rio
Iraan
Junction
Llano
Van Horn

Tier 6a (equivalent - small cities in East/South Texas, and just about every city (that I didn't already mention) with a loop around it)
Alice
Athens
Fairfield
Jasper
Orange
San Augustine
Palestine
Weatherford

[Roadgeekteen]

I'll give Texas a shot:

Tier 1 (nationally relevant & major population centers, including metro areas)

Dallas/Fort Worth
Houston

Tier 1a (nationally relevant, but to a slightly - just a little bit - lesser degree

San Antonio

Tier 2 (regionally to nationally relevant)

Austin
El Paso

Tier 3 (regionally relevant)

Amarillo
Brownsville/Harlingen/McAllen
Corpus Christi
Laredo
Lubbock
Wichita Falls

Tier 4 (influence over a few counties, typically with their own radio market, or large suburbs)

Abilene
Beaumont/Port Arthur
Bryan/College Station
Galveston
Georgetown
Killeen/Temple
Lufkin/Nacogdoches
Midland/Odessa
Plano
Round Rock
San Angelo
Texarkana
Tyler/Longview
Victoria (on the edge)
Waco

Tier 5 (of significance in their local area)
Brownwood
Corsicana
Denison/Sherman
Gainesville
Jacksonville
Paris
Stephenville

Tier 6 - outposts of civilization (West Texas)
Alpine/Marfa
Brady
Childress
Dalhart
Del Rio
Iraan
Junction
Llano
Van Horn

Tier 6a (equivalent - small cities in East/South Texas)
Alice
Athens
Fairfield
Jasper
Orange
San Augustine
Palestine
Weatherford

I would put Austin with San Antonio.

[Sctvhound]

South Carolina is a tough one.

Tier 1: Important cities within their regions, all with influence outside of the state of SC

Columbia
Charleston
Greenville

All pretty much equal within South Carolina. Give very small edge to Columbia since it's the state capital and has the state university, but Charleston is the largest city; and both Charleston and Greenville are way easier to get to and have more out of state influence. Columbia only has air non-stops to 10 cities on 4 airlines, while Greenville has 8 and Charleston had 13 including a seasonal non-stop to London pre-pandemic.

Tier 1b: Vacation towns which people think of nationwide

Myrtle Beach
Hilton Head Island

Tier 2: Cities that have statewide influence

Mount Pleasant
North Charleston
Spartanburg
Rock Hill

North Charleston alone has 115,000+ population, Mt. Pleasant 95K. Place those towns in another part of SC and they'd be very decent size towns.

Tier 3: Regionally influential towns

Summerville
Sumter
Florence
Goose Creek
Aiken
Beaufort
Anderson
Orangeburg

Summerville will probably be Tier 2 very soon with its population growth. 54,000+ already there. Sumter and Florence are mostly retail hubs for several counties around it. Goose Creek is a Charleston suburb.

Tier 4: Locally influential towns

Greer
Greenwood
Clemson
Conway
North Augusta
Lexington
Fort Mill
West Columbia
North Myrtle Beach
Moncks Corner

A bunch of 10-20K towns in here. All influential within their metro areas, while Orangeburg, Greenwood and Clemson are separate.

Tier 5: towns that have fast food choices and a Walmart

Mauldin
Hanahan
Gaffney
Clinton
Newberry
Lancaster
Laurens
Georgetown
York
Union
Camden
Bennettsville
Hartsville
Darlington
Lake City
Dillon
Manning
Walterboro
Abbeville

South Carolina has a LOT of these type of towns. County seats with 5,000-10,000 population that are the center of a couple of counties around it and have the basic services needed. 2-4 fast food places, a Walmart, a couple grocery stores, and multiple types of churches.

Tier 6: Struggling towns mostly losing population

Kingstree
Edgefield
Chester
Cheraw
Woodruff
Barnwell
Allendale
Mullins
Saluda
Bamberg
Pickens
Winnsboro
Loris
St. George

Most of these places have declining industries and businesses which have closed. They do have chain stores and a couple fast-food places plus grocery stores.

Tier 7: Towns with one stoplight

Landrum
Ware Shoals
Walhalla
St. Matthews
St. Stephen
Chapin
Johnsonville
Latta
Andrews
Swansea
Yemassee
McBee

Most towns in SC of any size above 500 have at least a chain dollar store and convenience store (most a Subway as well), but these towns have a couple more things than those with industry in these towns.

[webny99]

I know it's already been discussed, but here's my Minnesota take:
...

Is Albert Lea only on here because of the interstate junction?

Albert Lea has a population of about 18,000. That's bigger than Bemidji, which he has in a higher tier, and Hibbing, which is in the same tier. It's not very big compared to most cities with 2di junctions, but it's not a total nothingburger.

(Forum Post# 800,000!  )

[EpicRoadways]

I know it's already been discussed, but here's my Minnesota take:
...

Is Albert Lea only on here because of the interstate junction?

Albert Lea has a population of about 18,000. That's bigger than Bemidji, which he has in a higher tier, and Hibbing, which is in the same tier. It's not very big compared to most cities with 2di junctions, but it's not a total nothingburger.

(Forum Post# 800,000!  )

Yes, that was part of the reason why I included it. I based a lot of my rankings on how well-known the city is on a regional/state/national/international level. I figure with Albert Lea as the control city for I-35 in the metro most people have at least some idea of what/where Albert Lea is. Plus the area has a lot of truck stops/hotels and a decent freeway presence for a city of its size that would make the area better known to long-distance truckers and travelers. I used the same rationale for choosing Owatonna as a Tier 5 city for SE MN since Owatonna has the US-14 junction and a lot more of a presence along the highway then say Fairbault or Northfield. Bemidji and Brainerd are only in Tier 3 because of their focus on tourism and relative isolation to other cities of their size; if I were going solely off of year-round populations they wouldn't even be ranked.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I know it's already been discussed, but here's my Minnesota take:
...

Is Albert Lea only on here because of the interstate junction?

Albert Lea has a population of about 18,000. That's bigger than Bemidji, which he has in a higher tier, and Hibbing, which is in the same tier. It's not very big compared to most cities with 2di junctions, but it's not a total nothingburger.

When you mention Bemidji or Brainerd to a Twin Cities resident, many of them will have the pleasant thoughts of cabin life, lakes, fishing, and associated getaways and vacations. Albert Lea generates no such pleasant thoughts. That's why Albert Lea is in a lower tier than those other cities.

[doorknob60]

I'll give Oregon a shot. Unless I list them separately, it includes suburbs in the MSA, eg. Portland includes Beaverton, Hillsboro, Gresham, etc. The cities in the same tiers aren't really ordered in any way either.

Tier 1: Portland
Tier 2: Salem, Eugene, Bend, Medford (you could argue Salem and Eugene are 2a, Bend and Medford 2b, but I think they're close enough to stay)
Tier 3: Albany, Corvallis, Klamath Falls, Coos Bay*, Astoria*
Tier 4: Grants Pass, Ashland, Pendleton, Hermiston, Redmond, Newport, La Grande, Ontario, McMinnville, The Dalles, Roseburg
Tier 5: Lincoln City, Madras, Prineville, Florence, Baker City, Seaside, Hood River, Brookings

*These are tier 3 instead of 4 despite their populations due to being the primary city for a larger region, as opposed to something like Redmond which takes a back seat to nearby Bend

I probably missed some, but that covers most of the major ones. Not going to list any smaller than that.

Idaho is a bit simpler, again combining them by metro area (eg. Nampa and Meridian are part of Boise for this list).

Tier 1: Boise
Tier 2: Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Twin Falls, Coeur d'Alene
Tier 3: Lewiston, Mountain Home, Moscow
Tier 4: Rexburg, Burley, Payette, Weiser, Blackfoot, Sandpoint, Ketchum/Sun Valley/Hailey, McCall (almost didn't put this here but I think it qualifies due to high tourist traffic)

I think that covers most of the noteworthy cities.