Winners & Losers: US City vs Metro Populations

Candidates are any city ranked in the top 50 for EITHER Metro population, or City population. Excluded are any cities which are a smaller part of a larger metro area (eg, Long Beach or Newark). Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_and_metropolitan_areas_of_the_United_States (2020 populations)

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Last updated: August 9, 2023

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First submitted	July 29, 2023
Times taken	1,151
Average score	64.7%
Rating	4.82
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Ranking Difference
Answer
City Population
Metro Population
City:Metro % Increase
+191
Hartford
120,686
1,213,531
906%
+95
Providence
189,563
1,676,579
784%
+69
Salt Lake City
204,657
1,257,936
515%
+54
Richmond
226,610
1,314,434
480%
+48
Riverside
314,347
4,599,839
1363%
+48
St. Louis
301,578
2,820,253
835%
+44
Orlando
307,674
2,673,376
769%
+41
Pittsburgh
303,160
2,370,930
682%
+36
Miami
442,265
6,138,333
1288%
+36
Tampa
346,037
2,824,724
716%
+30
Minneapolis
428,403
3,690,261
761%
+29
Atlanta
498,602
6,089,815
1121%
+26
Buffalo
278,302
1,166,902
319%
+20
Cleveland
373,091
2,088,251
460%
+14
Washington
689,545
6,385,162
826%
+14
Boston
676,216
4,941,632
631%
+13
Detroit
639,614
4,392,041
587%
-45
El Paso
678,587
868,859
28%
-45
Wichita
397,070
647,610
63%
-40
Colorado Springs
479,260
755,105
58%
-30
Albuquerque
564,563
916,528
62%
-28
Jacksonville
949,577
1,605,848
69%
-26
San Jose
1,014,545
2,000,468
97%
-24
Fresno
542,161
1,008,654
86%
-20
Tucson
541,349
1,043,433
93%
-20
Omaha
490,627
967,604
97%
-20
Oklahoma City
681,387
1,278,053
88%
-18
Columbus
905,672
1,858,464
105%
-18
Louisville
632,689
1,285,439
103%
-18
Indianapolis
887,752
1,778,568
100%
-17
San Antonio
1,434,270
2,558,143
78%
-17
Austin
959,549
2,283,371
138%
-16
Nashville
689,504
1,617,142
135%
-15
Memphis
632,207
1,337,779
112%

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12 Comments

Level 89

Aug 15, 2023

I loved and nominated this quiz, but I'd edit the title and explanation. Would be helpful if you clarified what the quiz is asking a little more. Framing it as "winners v. losers" confuses it a bit. You would think the "winner" cities would be the ones with a higher percentage of population vs. the metro area, because that means they've retained more of their population, or expanded along with the city. Here, the "winner" cities seem to be the ones who have lost the most people to the suburbs.

Level 79

Aug 15, 2023

I'm re-reading my own description, and you're right, it really doesn't explain. My original conception was that "winners" and "losers" were those cities that had the most misleadingly high or low populations if one were to look only at city proper populations - I'm sure people here are familiar with the weirdness of having Jacksonville the most populous city in Florida, and San Francisco the 4th biggest in California. That's what I was getting at. Will edit.

Thanks for playing and nominating!

Level 79

Aug 15, 2023

Just changed name and added to description - what do you think?

Level 89

Aug 15, 2023

Could you possibly clarify what answer you’re looking for in the quiz? It needs explained what we are supposed to be guessing in metro areas and city proper. Also you might move the sources to the caveats.

Level 79

Aug 15, 2023

Ok i've tried i'm waiting on it to update

Level 87

Aug 15, 2023

Love the quiz! I'd suggest less time bc one could just cycle through all major metro areas.

Nominated!

Level 67

Aug 15, 2023

First of all, please accept common type-ins like DC. Second, I think this is a good concept, but can definitely refined. A similar idea that I have is to rank the "winner's" side as the cities with the highest percentage increase from city proper to metro population, and then the "loser's" side as the cities with the smallest percentage increase

Level 63

Oct 18, 2023

kinda surprised Virginia Beach doesnt make the "winners" list

Level 79

Oct 18, 2023

43rd biggest city, 38th biggest metro.

Level 78

Feb 4, 2025

Great quiz!

Level 64

Aug 18, 2025

i did pretty well on this quiz and i still only kind of understand what it's asking for LOL. is it the biggest difference between metro area and city pop??? in percent? i liked it but im confused

Level 79

Aug 19, 2025

If you take two data sets: national rankings of cities by population by (a) city proper and (b) metro population, which cities have the greatest difference in their place in the rankings in each list. So if a city like El Paso is the 17th biggest by city proper, but only the 62nd biggest metro population, that's a difference of -45