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Guess Big cities in the United States

A quick look at the 123 big cities you can be asked to find on the map, before you play.

GuessTheDot is a free geography guessing game: you get a place name and a map full of dots, then click the one you think is right.

Play Big cities in the United States →

These are the places most people already know by name, capitals and major hubs with a large population. They tend to sit on a coastline, a river, or a border, and their outline on the map is usually distinctive.

In the United States this set is spread across 36 different states, with California home to the most of them (21).

How this category is defined

Place kinds on GuessTheDot are a practical grouping by population and place type for gameplay, not a legal or historical designation. A place can hold official city rights (or an old city charter) and still show up here as a village if it stayed small, and the other way around: this is a rough size ladder for guessing, not a statement about a place's official status.

Places in this set
123
Smallest population
186,247
Largest population
8,804,190
Median population
310,227

Two you might get asked about

Newport News
186,247 inhabitants, Virginia
The kind of place that is easy to miss on a map. Good practice for the sharpest players.
New York City
8,804,190 inhabitants, New York
One of the better known ones in this set, a fair starting point if you are new to this category.

Play Big cities in the United States →

All 123 big cities in the United States

Sorted by population, biggest first.

PlacePopulationstate
New York City8,804,190New York
Los Angeles3,820,914California
Chicago2,664,452Illinois
Houston2,314,157Texas
Phoenix1,650,070Arizona
Philadelphia1,573,916Pennsylvania
San Antonio1,526,656Texas
San Diego1,404,452California
Dallas1,326,087Texas
Jacksonville1,009,833Florida
Fort Worth1,008,106Texas
San Jose997,368California
Austin974,447Texas
Columbus913,175Ohio
Charlotte911,311North Carolina
Indianapolis887,642Indiana
San Francisco827,526California
Seattle780,995Washington
Denver729,019Colorado
Washington689,545District of Columbia
Nashville689,447Tennessee
Oklahoma City681,054Oklahoma
El Paso678,815Texas
Boston653,833Massachusetts
Portland652,503Oregon
Detroit645,705Michigan
Las Vegas641,903Nevada
Memphis633,104Tennessee
Louisville624,444Kentucky
Baltimore585,708Maryland
Albuquerque564,559New Mexico
Milwaukee563,531Wisconsin
Tucson542,629Arizona
Fresno542,107California
Sacramento524,943California
Atlanta510,823Georgia
Miami487,014Florida
Omaha486,051Nebraska
Raleigh482,295North Carolina
Kansas City475,378Missouri
Long Beach474,140California
Mesa471,825Arizona
Colorado Springs456,568Colorado
Virginia Beach454,808Virginia
Oakland419,267California
Tampa414,547Florida
Tulsa413,066Oklahoma
Minneapolis410,939Minnesota
Wichita396,119Kansas
Arlington388,125Texas
Bakersfield373,640California
Cleveland365,379Ohio
New Orleans362,701Louisiana
Aurora359,407Colorado
Anaheim350,742California
Orlando334,854Florida
Lexington320,347Kentucky
Riverside317,261California
Corpus Christi316,239Texas
Lexington-Fayette314,488Kentucky
Cincinnati311,097Ohio
Santa Ana310,227California
Stockton305,658California
Pittsburgh304,391Pennsylvania
Saint Paul303,176Minnesota
Lincoln294,757Nebraska
Meads288,649Kentucky
Henderson285,667Nevada
Greensboro285,342North Carolina
Plano283,558Texas
Madison280,305Wisconsin
St. Louis279,695Missouri
Toledo265,638Ohio
Reno264,165Nevada
Chandler260,828Arizona
Fort Wayne260,326Indiana
Buffalo258,071New York
Durham257,636North Carolina
St. Petersburg257,083Florida
Irvine256,927California
Laredo256,153Texas
Lubbock249,042Texas
Gilbert247,542Arizona
Winston-Salem241,218North Carolina
Norfolk238,005Virginia
Hialeah237,069Florida
Garland236,897Texas
Boise235,684Idaho
Chesapeake235,429Virginia
North Las Vegas234,807Nevada
Fremont232,206California
Spokane229,447Washington
Baton Rouge227,470Louisiana
Richmond226,610Virginia
Paradise223,167Nevada
Tacoma222,906Washington
San Bernardino216,108California
Salt Lake City215,548Utah
Huntsville215,006Alabama
Des Moines214,133Iowa
Fontana212,704California
Modesto211,266California
Rochester209,802New York
Oxnard207,254California
Worcester206,518Massachusetts
Moreno Valley204,198California
Little Rock202,591Arkansas
Fayetteville201,963North Carolina
Huntington Beach201,899California
Tallahassee201,731Florida
Cypress200,839Texas
Amarillo198,645Texas
Akron197,542Ohio
Birmingham196,357Alabama
Montgomery195,287Alabama
Grand Rapids195,097Michigan
Peoria190,985Arizona
Providence190,934Rhode Island
Knoxville190,740Tennessee
Shreveport187,593Louisiana
Brownsville186,738Texas
Overland Park186,515Kansas
Newport News186,247Virginia

Tips for this category

Other place kinds in the United States

Cities Big villages Villages Small villages

Big cities in other countries

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