Largest Cities in New York: Ranked by Population

The largest city in New York in our data is New York, NY, with an estimated 18,713,220 people, followed by Brooklyn, NY (2,559,903) and Queens, NY (2,230,722). 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 big are the largest cities in New York?

Of the 314 places with pages, 14 have more than 100,000 residents, 54 have between 25,000 and 100,000, and 246 have fewer than 25,000. The median place has about 11,463 people. The ten largest places account for about 84% of the combined population of all pages, which shows how concentrated the state's population is across communities. Nassau County contributes 10 of the top 50.

Which counties do the top 50 belong to?

The 50 places on this list are spread across 28 counties of New York. Nassau County has 10 (Levittown, Freeport, Hicksville, East Meadow, Valley Stream, Elmont, Long Beach, Franklin ); Suffolk County has 7 (Brentwood, West Babylon, Coram, Commack, Huntington Station, Centereach, Central Islip); Westchester County has 4 (Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, White Plains). 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. New York, NY ranks 1st 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 largest city in New York? New York (18,713,220 people).
• 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.