The following is a list of incorporated places in the United States with a population density of over 10,000 people per square mile. As defined by the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, an incorporated

place Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** O ...

is a place that has a self-governing

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loc ...

and as such has been " incorporated" by the state it is in. Each state has different laws defining how a place can be incorporated. An "incorporated place" as recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau can designate a variety of places, such as a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

, and

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

. The other type of place defined by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes are

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

s. Census-designated places are distinct from incorporated places because they do not have a local government and thus depend on higher government bodies, such as a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, for governance. Census-designated places are defined as being in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...

. Census-designated places that have a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

of over 10,000 people per square mile are listed in a separate table below. The five

boroughs of New York City New York City is composed of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City the largest U.S. municipality situated ...

, and the census-designated places of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

and the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

that have densities over 10,000, are also listed in separate tables below.

Incorporated places with a density of over 10,000 people per square mile

The following

data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpret ...

about the most densely populated incorporated places in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

is from the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

and is from the 2010 U.S. Census, except for the tables on Puerto Rico, which show data from the 2000 US Census. The following ranking is made up of incorporated places of any population, but also of interest may be lists compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau of all places with at least 50,000 population, arranged alphabetically by state, and ranked by total population; the population density for each place is also given in the lists. The

is calculated by dividing the population by the land area so that it represents the number of people living in one square mile of land area. The population densities listed in the table below do not work out to be exactly the result of dividing the listed population by the listed land area because the land areas have been rounded off to two decimal places, but the population densities were calculated before rounding the land area figures. The land area figures are calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau's

TIGER The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

system. The U.S. Census Bureau has released the exact land area figures for all places in the U.S. in square meters and square miles; the exact land areas are the figures used for calculating the population densities seen in the table below. The list below only includes incorporated places of the 50 states and the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...

. Unincorporated

s, places in

, and the five

are all listed in separate tables below. Washington, D.C. misses the 10,000 mark as the city has a population density of 9,800 people per square mile as of the 2010 U.S. Census. Those cities that are not a part of a larger city's metropolitan area are in bold.

Census-designated places

The following is a list of unincorporated

s with population densities of over 10,000 people per square mile as of the 2010 U.S. Census. The rank column indicates the rank the place would have if census-designated places were included in the above table of incorporated places.

New York City boroughs

The following lists the population densities of the five

as of the 2010 U.S. Census. The rank column indicates the rank they would have if included in the above table of incorporated places.

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

has a population density below 10,000, but it is included for comparative purposes.

Puerto Rico

The following lists the census-designated places in

that have a population density of over 10,000 people per square mile as of the 2000 U.S. Census. The census-designated places in Puerto Rico include ''zonas urbanas'' (urban areas) and ''comunidades'' (communities). The

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

, or ''municipio'', the place is located in is also included in the table below. The municipalities are what is thought of as "incorporated places" in Puerto Rico because there are no subordinate governments within them, only eight electoral districts which hold no administrative functions (the electoral districts are what generally constitute the census-designated places in this list below). No municipalities have a density over 10,000 as of the 2000 U.S. Census; the

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

Municipio is the densest at 9,084.4 people per square mile. The Jayuya municipality is not part of any metropolitan area as it is only part of the Jayuya micropolitan area (see

Puerto Rico census statistical areas The currently has 15 statistical areas that have been delineated by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). On March 6, 2020, the OMB delineated three combined statistical areas, eight metropolitan statistical areas, and four ...

). The rank column indicates the rank the place would have if included in the above table of incorporated places.

Northern Mariana Islands

In the

, there is one place that has more than 10,000 people per square mile: China Town, Northern Mariana Islands (in the 2010 U.S. Census). The other non-Puerto Rico U.S. territories (

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internatio ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

and the U.S. Virgin Islands) do not have any places with more than 10,000 people per square mile (as of the 2010 U.S. Census). China Town, Northern Mariana Islands is a census-designated place; it is also a village within the larger municipality of Saipan. China Town would rank 105th if it were in the first table above.

List of incorporated cities in the United States with over 75,000 residents

Below is a list of the most densely populated cities in the United States which have a population density over 10,000 people per square mile and have a total population of over 75,000 according to the 2010 Census. This list relates to the first list, but excludes cities under 75,000. Those cities not a part of a larger city's metropolitan area in bold.

Distributions

The following distributions only include the 125 incorporated places with population densities over 10,000 people per square mile. They do not include the 36 census-designated places, the boroughs of New York City, or the 11 places in Puerto Rico with densities over 10,000.

Metropolitan areas

The following ranks

United States metropolitan area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or to ...

s by the number of incorporated places with densities over 10,000 within them. If two or more metropolitan areas have the same number of incorporated places, as is the case of the eight metros with one place, the metro areas are ranked by the densest incorporated place within the metro area.

States and territories

The following ranks the 50 U.S. states, the

, and the 5 inhabited U.S. territories by the number of incorporated places with densities over 10,000 people within them. The "10,000+ places" column only includes incorporated places, it does not include census-designated places (CDPs). If two or more states have the same number of places, as is the case of the 36 states that contain no incorporated places with a density over 10,000, the states are ranked by the densest incorporated place within the state. The density figures for the densest incorporated place within each state and territory are from the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

, and all the data for this ranking is from the

. The first rank column ranks each state by the number of 10,000+ places in that state (New Jersey ranks first, California ranks second, etc.) The second rank column ranks the most densely populated place in each state or territory (Guttenberg, NJ ranks first, Kaser, NY ranks second, etc.)

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

officially does not contain any incorporated places, as the city of

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

is coextensive with Honolulu County, which makes up the whole island of

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O ...

. When the U.S. Census Bureau ranks incorporated places by population, it usually includes the Honolulu census-designated place, which is the urban center of Honolulu, in its ranking of incorporated places. Therefore, for this list of the densest incorporated places by state, the Honolulu CDP is considered the densest incorporated place in Hawaii. The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories are also included in this list. Puerto Rico also officially does not contain any incorporated places, as the lowest form of local government in Puerto Rico are the '' municipios'', which are equivalent to counties. For this ranking, the ''municipios'' are counted as the incorporated places in Puerto Rico, and the

Municipio is the densest. In

, each village is governed by a ''pulenu'u'' (the equivalent of a mayor) — as such, each village in American Samoa can be considered to be incorporated for the purposes of the table below. In the

, each municipality (such as

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

) is governed by a mayor, and so those municipalities can be considered incorporated — the villages in the Northern Mariana Islands are considered Census-Designated Places. In

, each village is governed by a mayor, and so those villages can be considered incorporated.https://www.mcog.guam.gov/directory Mayor’s Council of Guam. Guam’s Mayors and Vice Mayors. Mcog.guam.gov. Retrieved June 2019. For the purposes of the table below, the major towns of the U.S. Virgin Islands ( Charlotte Amalie, Frederiksted and

Christiansted Christiansted is the largest town on Saint Croix, one of the main islands composing the United States Virgin Islands, a territory of the United States of America. The town is named after King Christian VI of Denmark. History The town was founded ...

) are considered to be incorporated. ''Note: this table contains data from the 2010 U.S. Census — because of this, data is more than 9 years old, and the current population density of each jurisdiction may have changed since then.''

Populations

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

are the only incorporated places in the United States that have a population over 1,000,000 and a population density over 10,000 people per square mile.

Land areas

Population densities

Notes

References

External links

Density Using Land Area For States, Counties, Metropolitan Areas, and Places
– from the

, various tables and maps from the

2000 U.S. Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

and 1990 U.S. Census of population density statistics
2000 Census: US Municipalities Over 50,000: Ranked by 2000 Density
– from Demographia, ranks the population density for all incorporated places over 50,000 population from the 2000 U.S. Census. Note that this list does not contain townships (see the Notes section above for a detailed explanation), and does not contain census-designated places.
US Cities: Ranked by Density: 1990
– from Demographia, ranks all places in the U.S., including incorporated places and census-designated places (CDPs), with population densities over 10,000 people per square mile in 1990
City Ranks – Population Density Mashup
– combines

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

and data from the 2000 U.S. Census to show the population density of various ZIP codes on an interactive map {{DEFAULTSORT:United States Cities By Population Density Lists by population density Cities By Population Density