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The Most Urban Cities

The urbanSCALE rating system is the first ever comprehensive rating system that measures how urban a city is on a scale of 1 to 10.  This system has been in the works for more than 2 years and includes more than 100 different variables from many public and private sources.  urbanSCALE ratings have been developed for the 100 largest U.S. cities (based on most recent population).  For an explanation of the urbanSCALE rating system methodology, see the 10 Traits of Vibrant Cities.

The most urban cities in the United States are…

Top Ten Most Urban Cities Map

Top Ten Most Urban Cities (2014)

  1. New York, NY
  2. San Francisco, CA
  3. Boston, MA
  4. Jersey City, NJ
  5. Washington, DC
  6. Miami, FL
  7. Chicago, IL
  8. Seattle, WA
  9. Philadelphia, PA
  10. Minneapolis, MN

The full list of urbanSCALE ratings for all 100 cities (10 being the most urban and 1 being the least urban):

Rank City State urbanSCALE Score
1 New York NY 8.6
2 San Francisco CA 8.0
3 Boston MA 7.9
4 Jersey City NJ 7.3
5 Washington DC 6.9
6 Miami FL 6.5
7 Chicago IL 6.3
8 Seattle WA 6.3
9 Philadelphia PA 6.1
10 Minneapolis MN 5.8
11 Portland OR 5.6
12 Honolulu HI 5.6
13 Newark NJ 5.3
14 Baltimore MD 5.1
15 Pittsburgh PA 5.0
16 Atlanta GA 5.0
17 Oakland CA 5.0
18 Madison WI 4.9
19 Denver CO 4.9
20 Los Angeles CA 4.9
21 San Jose CA 4.6
22 Sacramento CA 4.5
23 Milwaukee WI 4.5
24 St. Louis MO 4.5
25 Buffalo NY 4.4
26 Austin TX 4.4
27 San Diego CA 4.4
28 Cleveland OH 4.3
29 New Orleans LA 4.2
30 Orlando FL 4.2
31 St. Paul MN 4.2
32 Long Beach CA 4.1
33 Charlotte NC 4.0
34 Santa Ana CA 3.9
35 Cincinnati OH 3.9
36 Tampa FL 3.9
37 Houston TX 3.9
38 Dallas TX 3.9
39 Norfolk VA 3.8
40 Lincoln NE 3.7
41 Omaha NE 3.7
42 Columbus OH 3.7
43 Anaheim CA 3.7
44 Boise ID 3.7
45 Reno NV 3.7
46 Nashville TN 3.7
47 Detroit MI 3.6
48 Irvine CA 3.6
49 Winston-Salem NC 3.6
50 Las Vegas NV 3.5
51 Raleigh NC 3.5
52 Fresno CA 3.5
53 Tucson AZ 3.5
54 Fremont CA 3.5
55 Kansas City MO 3.5
56 Indianapolis IN 3.5
57 Stockton CA 3.4
58 Durham NC 3.4
59 Albuquerque NM 3.4
60 Lexington KY 3.4
61 Laredo TX 3.4
62 Fort Worth TX 3.3
63 Anchorage AK 3.3
64 Hialeah FL 3.3
65 San Antonio TX 3.3
66 Birmingham AL 3.3
67 Phoenix AZ 3.3
68 Greensboro NC 3.3
69 Louisville KY 3.2
70 Riverside CA 3.2
71 Lubbock TX 3.2
72 Bakersfield CA 3.2
73 Chula Vista CA 3.2
74 Fort Wayne IND 3.1
75 Colorado Springs CO 3.1
76 Plano TX 3.1
77 El Paso TX 3.1
78 Jacksonville FL 3.1
79 Corpus Christi TX 3.1
80 Memphis TN 3.0
81 Wichita KS 3.0
82 St. Petersburg FL 3.0
83 Oklahoma City OK 3.0
84 Toledo OH 3.0
85 Baton Rouge LA 2.9
86 Irving TX 2.9
87 Tulsa OK 2.9
88 Chandler AZ 2.8
89 Scottsdale AZ 2.7
90 San Bernardino CA 2.7
91 Mesa AZ 2.7
92 Garland TX 2.7
93 Gilbert AZ 2.5
94 Henderson NV 2.5
95 Arlington TX 2.5
96 Glendale AZ 2.5
97 Aurora CO 2.1
98 Virginia Beach VA 2.1
99 Chesapeake VA 1.9
100 North Las Vegas NV 1.8
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