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.
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).
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.
Sorted by population, biggest first.
| Place | Population | state |
|---|---|---|
| New York City | 8,804,190 | New York |
| Los Angeles | 3,820,914 | California |
| Chicago | 2,664,452 | Illinois |
| Houston | 2,314,157 | Texas |
| Phoenix | 1,650,070 | Arizona |
| Philadelphia | 1,573,916 | Pennsylvania |
| San Antonio | 1,526,656 | Texas |
| San Diego | 1,404,452 | California |
| Dallas | 1,326,087 | Texas |
| Jacksonville | 1,009,833 | Florida |
| Fort Worth | 1,008,106 | Texas |
| San Jose | 997,368 | California |
| Austin | 974,447 | Texas |
| Columbus | 913,175 | Ohio |
| Charlotte | 911,311 | North Carolina |
| Indianapolis | 887,642 | Indiana |
| San Francisco | 827,526 | California |
| Seattle | 780,995 | Washington |
| Denver | 729,019 | Colorado |
| Washington | 689,545 | District of Columbia |
| Nashville | 689,447 | Tennessee |
| Oklahoma City | 681,054 | Oklahoma |
| El Paso | 678,815 | Texas |
| Boston | 653,833 | Massachusetts |
| Portland | 652,503 | Oregon |
| Detroit | 645,705 | Michigan |
| Las Vegas | 641,903 | Nevada |
| Memphis | 633,104 | Tennessee |
| Louisville | 624,444 | Kentucky |
| Baltimore | 585,708 | Maryland |
| Albuquerque | 564,559 | New Mexico |
| Milwaukee | 563,531 | Wisconsin |
| Tucson | 542,629 | Arizona |
| Fresno | 542,107 | California |
| Sacramento | 524,943 | California |
| Atlanta | 510,823 | Georgia |
| Miami | 487,014 | Florida |
| Omaha | 486,051 | Nebraska |
| Raleigh | 482,295 | North Carolina |
| Kansas City | 475,378 | Missouri |
| Long Beach | 474,140 | California |
| Mesa | 471,825 | Arizona |
| Colorado Springs | 456,568 | Colorado |
| Virginia Beach | 454,808 | Virginia |
| Oakland | 419,267 | California |
| Tampa | 414,547 | Florida |
| Tulsa | 413,066 | Oklahoma |
| Minneapolis | 410,939 | Minnesota |
| Wichita | 396,119 | Kansas |
| Arlington | 388,125 | Texas |
| Bakersfield | 373,640 | California |
| Cleveland | 365,379 | Ohio |
| New Orleans | 362,701 | Louisiana |
| Aurora | 359,407 | Colorado |
| Anaheim | 350,742 | California |
| Orlando | 334,854 | Florida |
| Lexington | 320,347 | Kentucky |
| Riverside | 317,261 | California |
| Corpus Christi | 316,239 | Texas |
| Lexington-Fayette | 314,488 | Kentucky |
| Cincinnati | 311,097 | Ohio |
| Santa Ana | 310,227 | California |
| Stockton | 305,658 | California |
| Pittsburgh | 304,391 | Pennsylvania |
| Saint Paul | 303,176 | Minnesota |
| Lincoln | 294,757 | Nebraska |
| Meads | 288,649 | Kentucky |
| Henderson | 285,667 | Nevada |
| Greensboro | 285,342 | North Carolina |
| Plano | 283,558 | Texas |
| Madison | 280,305 | Wisconsin |
| St. Louis | 279,695 | Missouri |
| Toledo | 265,638 | Ohio |
| Reno | 264,165 | Nevada |
| Chandler | 260,828 | Arizona |
| Fort Wayne | 260,326 | Indiana |
| Buffalo | 258,071 | New York |
| Durham | 257,636 | North Carolina |
| St. Petersburg | 257,083 | Florida |
| Irvine | 256,927 | California |
| Laredo | 256,153 | Texas |
| Lubbock | 249,042 | Texas |
| Gilbert | 247,542 | Arizona |
| Winston-Salem | 241,218 | North Carolina |
| Norfolk | 238,005 | Virginia |
| Hialeah | 237,069 | Florida |
| Garland | 236,897 | Texas |
| Boise | 235,684 | Idaho |
| Chesapeake | 235,429 | Virginia |
| North Las Vegas | 234,807 | Nevada |
| Fremont | 232,206 | California |
| Spokane | 229,447 | Washington |
| Baton Rouge | 227,470 | Louisiana |
| Richmond | 226,610 | Virginia |
| Paradise | 223,167 | Nevada |
| Tacoma | 222,906 | Washington |
| San Bernardino | 216,108 | California |
| Salt Lake City | 215,548 | Utah |
| Huntsville | 215,006 | Alabama |
| Des Moines | 214,133 | Iowa |
| Fontana | 212,704 | California |
| Modesto | 211,266 | California |
| Rochester | 209,802 | New York |
| Oxnard | 207,254 | California |
| Worcester | 206,518 | Massachusetts |
| Moreno Valley | 204,198 | California |
| Little Rock | 202,591 | Arkansas |
| Fayetteville | 201,963 | North Carolina |
| Huntington Beach | 201,899 | California |
| Tallahassee | 201,731 | Florida |
| Cypress | 200,839 | Texas |
| Amarillo | 198,645 | Texas |
| Akron | 197,542 | Ohio |
| Birmingham | 196,357 | Alabama |
| Montgomery | 195,287 | Alabama |
| Grand Rapids | 195,097 | Michigan |
| Peoria | 190,985 | Arizona |
| Providence | 190,934 | Rhode Island |
| Knoxville | 190,740 | Tennessee |
| Shreveport | 187,593 | Louisiana |
| Brownsville | 186,738 | Texas |
| Overland Park | 186,515 | Kansas |
| Newport News | 186,247 | Virginia |
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