Booming Cities Decade-to-Decade, 1830-2010

View Data Table

City growth of 200% or more between decennial censuses represents phenomenal change. Fast-growing cities first included those industrializing rapidly, such as Lowell, MA. Later, cities such as Chicago and St. Louis, MO grew very quickly when they served as gateway cities to the opening frontier lands in the Midwest and West. More recently, cities in the West and the South have shown very rapid growth over 10-year periods. Also gaining rapidly are some suburban or satellite cities within commuting distance to large cities.

SOURCE: Decennial censuses 1830 to 2010
NOTE: Booms in earlier time periods are shown using lighter grey text for the date range. To focus on fast growth of large- and medium-sized cities, cities were selected if they grew 200% or more between any 2 successive decades and if they were above a certain population threshold in the second decade in the calculation. Population thresholds for the second decade vary between time periods and are as follows: 10,000 or more for the period 1790-1890; 25,000 for the period 1910-1950; and 50,000 for the period 1950-2010. Philadelphia, PA experienced growth of 444,153 (366%) between 1850 and 1860, due primarily due to large-scale annexation of adjacent communities.

• Population Estimates
• Geography
• Cities
• QuickFacts

• Population Without Health Insurance
• Population Bracketology
• Measuring Race and Ethnicity Across the Decades: 1790-2010
• Where do college graduates work?
• Story Maps Illustrate Population Change
• HIV/AIDS Impact in Africa
• Distribution of Hispanic or Latino Population by Specific Origin: 2010
• A Century of Population Change in the Age and Sex Composition of the Nation
• Shifting Occupational Shares
• Metro Area Density
• Work-Life Earnings
• Census Flows Mapper
• Migration Between Calif. & Other States
• U.S. Territory and Statehood Status
• Spoken Languages Other than English
• Center of Population, 1790-2010
• Population Change by Decade
• Without A High School Education
• A Decade of State Population Change
• State-to-State Migration for States of 8 Million or More
• Population Under 5 Years Old by Congressional District
• Components of Metro Area Change
• Blooming States
• Coastline County Population
• Coastline County Population
• I-90 Population Density Profile, 2010
• Second Cities: Keeping Pace with a Booming New York
• By the Grid: Population Shift to the West and South
• I-10 Population Density Profile, 2010
• Booming Cities Decade-to-Decade, 1830-2010
• I-5 Population Density Profile, 2010
• Islands of High Income
• The Great Migration, 1910 to 1970
• Following the Frontier Line, 1790 to 1890
• Changing Ranks of States by Congressional Representation
• Cartograms of State Populations in 1890, 1950, and 2010
• Before and After 1940: Change in Population Density
• From Physical to Political Geography
• Differential City Growth Patterns
• I-95 Population Density Profile
• Increasing Urbanization
• Gaining and Losing Shares
• Top 20 Cities