Most Densely Populated Cities in New York: Ranked by People per Square Mile

The densest city in New York in our data is Manhattan, NY, with about 71,341 people per square mile, followed by Brooklyn, NY (36,832) and Bronx, NY (33,312). This list ranks the top 50 places among the 314 New York communities with at least 5,000 residents.

What are the top 50 in New York?

How dense are the cities in New York?

The densest place is about 20 times as dense as the median place in the state, which has about 3,525 people per square mile. At the other end, Calverton, NY has about 249. Under our scale, 101 places are an urban core (over 5,000 per square mile), 194 are suburban, and the rest are small towns or rural. Nassau County contributes 29 of the top 50.

Which counties do the top 50 belong to?

The 50 places on this list are spread across 12 counties of New York. Nassau County has 29 (Great Neck Plaza, Long Beach, Manorhaven, Williston Park, New Hyde Park, Floral Park, Fran); Rockland County has 5 (Kaser, New Square, Spring Valley, Monsey, Nyack); Westchester County has 5 (Mount Vernon, Port Chester, Yonkers, Tuckahoe, New Rochelle). Counties with several entries are usually centers of a metropolitan area, where one large city is surrounded by many suburbs that each pass the 5,000-resident threshold.

How does New York compare with the rest of the country?

The median New York place with a page has about 11,463 residents, compared with about 13,459 nationwide, so the state's typical community is smaller than the national typical place. Manhattan, NY ranks 35th among all US places by estimated population in our data. The state has 880 communities in total, of which 314 reach 5,000 residents. See the national ranking of the largest cities for comparison.

Quick answers about New York cities

• Which is the densest city in New York? Manhattan (71,341 per square mile).
• How many New York cities have more than 100,000 people? 14 in our data.
• How many have 25,000 to 100,000? 54.
• What is the typical size? About 11,463 residents for a place with a page.

How is this ranking made?

The data comes from the SimpleMaps US Cities Database, which gives each place an estimated population and a density in people per square kilometer. We convert density to people per square mile and rank the places with at least 5,000 residents. Boundaries matter: a city that includes large parks or farmland scores lower on density than a compact city of the same size, and population estimates can include areas that share a city's ZIP codes. Read why population figures differ and how density is calculated before you quote a number.

Where to go next

Rankings use dataset estimates, not official counts.