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by jessriedel 3677 days ago
Where are you guys getting these numbers? The top 5 cities in the US have 19.2 M residents, and the top 10 have 26 M.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b...

This one is more sensitive to noise, but still pretty different than what you quote: The top 5 metro areas have 56.9 M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_metropo...

1 comments

Fixed my 25 figure, accidentally added one city twice I think.

For the ~70 million figure, see here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_o...

I think last link is the wrong data to use. Despite the title of the article, it is using the largest possible "Combined statistical area" that contains the city, rather than anything commonly known as the metro area.

> A combined statistical area (CSA) is composed of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) in the United States and Puerto Rico that can demonstrate economic or social linkage. The OMB defines a CSA as consisting of various combinations of adjacent metropolitan and micropolitan areas with economic ties measured by commuting patterns.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_statistical_area

For instance, the "Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area" (which is not part of the top 5 cities) includes all of Hampshire County, West Virginia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampshire_County,_West_Virgini...

a Google image search confirms that this is a very rural area.

https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&site=&tbm=isch&source...