Number of Major Cities that Major US Highways Pass Through

[wphiii]

I know I've mentioned this before on here at some point but a while back I took sum of the population of the top 10 metropolitan areas along each of the major 0-ending east-west U.S. routes and then divided that by the highway's mileage to figure out the "least dense" of those routes. This thread has finally inspired me to dig up that spreadsheet. Here's the results, for anyone who might be interested:

Note that this was done pretty un-scientifically and the top 10 metros along each route were basically determined just by eyeballing each route. I've also updated the figures to match the latest 2013 Census Bureau update. And, of course, the methodology itself is certainly wide open for debate.

U.S. 20
Chicago (9,537,289)
Boston (4,684,299)
Cleveland (2,064,725)
Buffalo (1,134,155)
Albany (877,905)
Boise (650,288)
Springfield, MA (626,915)
Toledo (608,145)
Rockford, IL (344,623)
South Bend (318,586)
TOTAL: 20,846,930
/ 3,365 mi = 6,195.22 "people per mile"


U.S. 30
Chicago [by virtue of Joliet, which is considered part of the Chicago MSA] (9,537,289)
Philadelphia (6,034,678)
Pittsburgh (2,360,867)
Portland, OR (2,314,554)
Omaha (895,151)
Boise (650,288)
Lancaster, PA (529,600)
Fort Wayne (424,122)
Canton (403,707)
Atlantic City (275,862)
TOTAL: 23,426,118
/ 3,073 mi = 7,623.21 "people per mile"


U.S. 40
Philadelphia [by virtue of Wilmington, which is considered part of the Philly MSA] (6,034,678)
St. Louis (2,810,056)
Baltimore (2,770,738)
Denver (2,697,476)
Kansas City (2,054,473)
Columbus (1,967,066)
Indianapolis (1,953,961)
Salt Lake City (1,140,483)
Dayton (802,489)
Atlantic City (275,862)
TOTAL: 22,507,282
/ 2,285 mi = 9,850.01 "people per mile"


U.S. 50
Washington, DC (5,949,859)
St. Louis (2,810,056)
Sacramento (2,215,770)
Cincinnati (2,137,406)
Kansas City (2,054,473)
Pueblo, CO (161,451)
Jefferson City (150,494)
Grand Junction (147,554)
Winchester, VA (131,980)
Parkersburg, WV (92,470)
TOTAL: 15,851,513
/ 3,008 mi = 5,269.78 "people per mile"


U.S. 60
Phoenix (4,398,762)
Hampton Roads (1,707,369)
Louisville (1,262,261)
Richmond (1,245,764)
Lexington, KY (489,435)
Springfield, MO (448,744)
Huntington, WV (364,101)
Amarillo (258,196)
Charleston, WV (224,743)
Paducah, KY (98,765)
TOTAL: 10,498,140
/ 2,670 mi = 3,931.89 "people per mile"


U.S. 70
Nashville (1,757,912)
Memphis (1,341,746)
Raleigh (1,214,516)
Knoxville (852,715)
Greensboro (741,065)
Little Rock (724,385)
Durham (534,578)
Asheville (437,657)
Hickory (363,572)
Las Cruces (213,460)
TOTAL: 8,181,606
/ 2,385 mi = 3,430.44 "people per mile"


And just for fun, I added a couple more just now:

U.S. 6
Chicago (9,537,289)
Denver (2,697,476)
Cleveland (2,064,725)
Providence (1,604,291)
Hartford (1,215,211)
Omaha (895,151)
Des Moines (599,789)
Provo (562,239)
Scranton (562,037)
Davenport, IA (383,681)
TOTAL: 20,121,889
/ 3,205 mi = 6,278.28 "people per mile"


U.S. 2
Seattle (3,610,105)
Spokane (535,724)
Duluth (279,887)
Burlington (214,796)
Bangor (153,364)
Wenatchee (113,438)
Grand Forks (100,748)
Kalispell (93,068)
Minot (46,321)
Williston (20,850)
TOTAL: 5,168,301
/ 2,571 mi = 2,010.23 "people per mile"

Even if you complete the route through Canada (which bumps the bottom three for Montreal, Ottawa, and Sudbury), it jumps to 3,159.27 people per mile, still the smallest of the ones I've done.


And finally, a personal favorite of mine,

U.S. 62
Columbus (1,967,066)
Oklahoma City (1,319,677)
Buffalo (1,134,155)
El Paso (831,036)
Youngstown (555,506)
Fayetteville, AR (491,966)
Canton (403,707)
Lubbock (301,038)
Lawton (131,089)
Paducah (98,765)
TOTAL: 7,234,005
/ 2,248 mi = 3,217.97 "people per mile"

[DandyDan]

US 30:

NJ: Atlantic City, Camden
PA: Philadelphia, Lancaster, York, Gettysburg, Pittsburgh
WV: <nothing qualified as major>
OH: Canton, Mansfield*
IN: Fort Wayne
IL: Joliet
IA: Cedar Rapids
NE: <nothing qualified as major>*
WY: Cheyenne
ID: Twin Falls, Boise
OR: Portland, Astoria

* Means that I wasn't sure on whether or not it should be listed

At the least, Grand Island should be listed for Nebraska.  GI, Hastings and Kearney sometimes get lumped together as one area, although it's really 3 cities with a lot of farmland between each other.

[Charles2]

US 31

Alabama: Montgomery, Hoover, Birmingham
Tennessee: Nashville
Kentucky: Bowling Green, Louisville
Indiana: Jeffersonville, Indianapolis, West Lafayette, Gary

I presume you meant South Bend.

Why not include Benton Harbor/St Joe, Holland, Grand Haven, Muskegon and Traverse City?

Call it a brain fart.

Benton Harbor, or Chicken Man? (He's everywhere! He's everywhere!)   

[corco]

US 30:

NJ: Atlantic City, Camden
PA: Philadelphia, Lancaster, York, Gettysburg, Pittsburgh
WV: <nothing qualified as major>
OH: Canton, Mansfield*
IN: Fort Wayne
IL: Joliet
IA: Cedar Rapids
NE: <nothing qualified as major>*
WY: Cheyenne
ID: Twin Falls, Boise
OR: Portland, Astoria

* Means that I wasn't sure on whether or not it should be listed

At the least, Grand Island should be listed for Nebraska.  GI, Hastings and Kearney sometimes get lumped together as one area, although it's really 3 cities with a lot of farmland between each other.

If Twin Falls counts, I would add in Pocatello (bigger than Twin, home of Idaho State University), Laramie (Wyoming's third largest city, home to UWyo, probably the cultural capital of Wyoming), North Platte (very important regional center and rail hub), Grand Island (bigger than Twin, also an important regional center), and Ames (bigger than Twin, home to Iowa State). Rock Springs would also fit the mold of Twin Falls and North Platte as small, but a significant regional hub.

[dfwmapper]

Curious how US 60 turns out if you un-truncate it and run it  back to the East LA Interchange (where it really should end, damnit). LA and Riverside would bump the bottom 2 off the list.

[Captain Jack]

My personal favorite, US 41. Now climb in the backseat of a Greyhound bus and ride along...

WI-Green Bay, Appleton, Milwaukee
IL-Chicago
IN-Hammond, Terre Haute, Evansville
TN-Clarksville, Nashville, Chattanooga
GA-Atlanta, Macon
FL-Tampa, Sarasota, Ft. Myers, Naples, Miami

[Billy F 1988]

Montana

US 2:
Libby, Kalispell, Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Glasgow, Cut Bank, Shelby, Havre, after Havre, US 2 is mainly passing rural farm communities like Wolf Point clear up to Willison, ND

US 12 with Interstate 90:
Missoula metro, Lolo, Bonner-Milltown, Drummond, Butte

US 12 with US 287:
Helena metro, Townsend

US 12 with US 89:
White Sulphur Springs

US 12 with US 191:
Harlowtown

US 12 with US 87:
Roundup

US 12 alone:
Forsyth, Miles City

US 87 alone:
Billings, Roundup, Fort Benton, Big Sandy, Box Elder, after that, it ends near Havre

US 87 with US 89, US 191, Interstate 15, Montana Highway 3 and Montana Highway 200:
Lewistown, Great Falls metro, Vaughn,

US 89 alone:
Yellowstone National Park, Gardiner, Livingston, Wilsall, Choteau, Browning, Port of Carway

US 93:
Eureka, Kalispell, Polson, Ravalli, Arlee, Missoula metro, Florence, Stevensville, Hamilton, Darby, Sula

US 191:
West Yellowstone, Bozeman metro, Livingston (coupled with I-90), Big Timber, Harlowtown, Lewistown, Malta, Port of Monarchy

US 212:
Red Lodge, Laurel, Billings metro, Lockwood, Lame Deer, Alzada

US 212 with Montana Highway 59:
Broadus

US 212 with US 87 and Interstate 90:
Hardin, Crow Agency

US 287:
West Yellowstone (couple with US 191), Townsend, then it's a long stretch with US 12, Interstate 15, up to the split at Exit 228, then another long jaunt to Augusta up to Choteau (meeting up with US 89),

US 310:
Laurel, Fromberg, Bridger

[doorknob60]

I'll do a shorter one, US-97:

CA: None
OR: Klamath Falls, Bend
WA: Yakima, Wenatchee

Total: 4

[Bruce]

US 195

ID: None
WA: Pullman (29,799), Spokane (208,916)

[adventurernumber1]

US 411:

Alabama: Eastern Birmingham Metro Area (I guess that could count, as it starts in Leeds), & Gadsden (questionable if it's large enough)

Georgia: Rome (also questionable)

Tennessee: Maryville (possibly, but at least the southern Knoxville Metro Area)

That's about it for that.

[mjb2002]

US 278:

South Carolina: Hilton Head Island
Georgia: Augusta, Atlanta
Alabama: Gadsden
Mississippi: Tupelo, Greenville

[robbones]

US 278:

South Carolina: Hilton Head Island
Georgia: Augusta, Atlanta
Alabama: Gadsden
Mississippi: Tupelo, Greenville

Adding Arkansas: None

[TheHighwayMan3561]

US 61:

LA: New Orleans
MS: Vicksburg, Natchez
TN: Memphis
MO: St. Louis
IA: Dubuque, Quad Cities
WI: La Crosse
MN: Winona, St. Paul

No longer serves: Duluth

[NE2]

I don't get this thread.

[bing101]

US-50


Sacramento, CA
Kansas City, MO


Saint Louis, MO


Cincinnati, OH[/font]


Washington DC and Ocean City, MD


Previous Sections of US-50
once had  Stockton, CA, Oakland, CA and San Francisco, CA.




US-40 Once included Sacramento, Oakland and San Francisco at one point.

[Bickendan]

US 99 (Historic)+BC 99
El Centro
San Bernardino
Los Angeles
Bakersfield
Fresno
Stockton
Sacramento
Woodland (W)/Chico (E)
Redding
Weed
Medford
Grants Pass
Roseburg
Eugene
Corvallis (W)/Salem (E)
McMinnville (W)
Portland
Vancouver
Kelso
Centralia
Olympia
Tacoma
Seattle
Everett
Belingham
Vancouver
Whistler

US 97
Weed
Klamath Falls
Bend
Yakima
Wenatchee
Okanogan
Kamloops
Prince George
Dawson Creek
I think in this case, the relative size of the cities goes down the further north you go, bu they retain their 'importance' because there's nothing else around. Besides that moose.

[JCinSummerfield]

US-23, my avatar, from north to south:

MI:  Mackinaw City
       Saginaw
       Flint
       Ann Arbor

OH:  Toledo
       Marion
       Delaware
       Columbus
       Portsmouth

KY:  Pikeville
       Ashland

VA:  none

TN:  Kinsport
       Johnson City

NC:  Asheville

GA:  Atlanta
       Macon

FL:  Jacksonville

[bassoon1986]

US 61:

LA: New Orleans
MS: Vicksburg, Natchez
TN: Memphis
MO: St. Louis
IA: Dubuque, Quad Cities
WI: La Crosse
MN: Winona, St. Paul

No longer serves: Duluth

Can definitely add Baton Rouge to the list.

[SSOWorld]

US 8: none

[sandiaman]

I know I've mentioned this before on here at some point but a while back I took sum of the population of the top 10 metropolitan areas along each of the major 0-ending east-west U.S. routes and then divided that by the highway's mileage to figure out the "least dense" of those routes. This thread has finally inspired me to dig up that spreadsheet. Here's the results, for anyone who might be interested:

Note that this was done pretty un-scientifically and the top 10 metros along each route were basically determined just by eyeballing each route. I've also updated the figures to match the latest 2013 Census Bureau update. And, of course, the methodology itself is certainly wide open for debate.

U.S. 20
Chicago (9,537,289)
Boston (4,684,299)
Cleveland (2,064,725)
Buffalo (1,134,155)
Albany (877,905)
Boise (650,288)
Springfield, MA (626,915)
Toledo (608,145)
Rockford, IL (344,623)
South Bend (318,586)
TOTAL: 20,846,930
/ 3,365 mi = 6,195.22 "people per mile"


U.S. 30
Chicago [by virtue of Joliet, which is considered part of the Chicago MSA] (9,537,289)
Philadelphia (6,034,678)
Pittsburgh (2,360,867)
Portland, OR (2,314,554)
Omaha (895,151)
Boise (650,288)
Lancaster, PA (529,600)
Fort Wayne (424,122)
Canton (403,707)
Atlantic City (275,862)
TOTAL: 23,426,118
/ 3,073 mi = 7,623.21 "people per mile"


U.S. 40
Philadelphia [by virtue of Wilmington, which is considered part of the Philly MSA] (6,034,678)
St. Louis (2,810,056)
Baltimore (2,770,738)
Denver (2,697,476)
Kansas City (2,054,473)
Columbus (1,967,066)
Indianapolis (1,953,961)
Salt Lake City (1,140,483)
Dayton (802,489)
Atlantic City (275,862)
TOTAL: 22,507,282
/ 2,285 mi = 9,850.01 "people per mile"


U.S. 50
Washington, DC (5,949,859)
St. Louis (2,810,056)
Sacramento (2,215,770)
Cincinnati (2,137,406)
Kansas City (2,054,473)
Pueblo, CO (161,451)
Jefferson City (150,494)
Grand Junction (147,554)
Winchester, VA (131,980)
Parkersburg, WV (92,470)
TOTAL: 15,851,513
/ 3,008 mi = 5,269.78 "people per mile"


U.S. 60
Phoenix (4,398,762)
Hampton Roads (1,707,369)
Louisville (1,262,261)
Richmond (1,245,764)
Lexington, KY (489,435)
Springfield, MO (448,744)
Huntington, WV (364,101)
Amarillo (258,196)
Charleston, WV (224,743)
Paducah, KY (98,765)
TOTAL: 10,498,140
/ 2,670 mi = 3,931.89 "people per mile"


U.S. 70
Nashville (1,757,912)
Memphis (1,341,746)
Raleigh (1,214,516)
Knoxville (852,715)
Greensboro (741,065)
Little Rock (724,385)
Durham (534,578)
Asheville (437,657)
Hickory (363,572)
Las Cruces (213,460)
TOTAL: 8,181,606
/ 2,385 mi = 3,430.44 "people per mile"


And just for fun, I added a couple more just now:

U.S. 6
Chicago (9,537,289)
Denver (2,697,476)
Cleveland (2,064,725)
Providence (1,604,291)
Hartford (1,215,211)
Omaha (895,151)
Des Moines (599,789)
Provo (562,239)
Scranton (562,037)
Davenport, IA (383,681)
TOTAL: 20,121,889
/ 3,205 mi = 6,278.28 "people per mile"


U.S. 2
Seattle (3,610,105)
Spokane (535,724)
Duluth (279,887)
Burlington (214,796)
Bangor (153,364)
Wenatchee (113,438)
Grand Forks (100,748)
Kalispell (93,068)
Minot (46,321)
Williston (20,850)
TOTAL: 5,168,301
/ 2,571 mi = 2,010.23 "people per mile"

Even if you complete the route through Canada (which bumps the bottom three for Montreal, Ottawa, and Sudbury), it jumps to 3,159.27 people per mile, still the smallest of the ones I've done.


And finally, a personal favorite of mine,

U.S. 62
Columbus (1,967,066)
Oklahoma City (1,319,677)
Buffalo (1,134,155)
El Paso (831,036)
Youngstown (555,506)
Fayetteville, AR (491,966)
Canton (403,707)
Lubbock (301,038)
Lawton (131,089)
Paducah (98,765)
TOTAL: 7,234,005
/ 2,248 mi = 3,217.97 "people per mile"

[sandiaman]

Did you leave out one of the most famous of all US routes, US 66,   because it    has been decommissioned?   It hit some major cities, Chicago,  St. Louis, OKC, and LA.