Estimates Show Three-Fourths of the Nation's Incorporated Places Have Fewer Than 5,000 People

[Klaralven]

Latest City and Town Population Estimates of the Decade Show Three-Fourths of the Nation's Incorporated Places Have Fewer Than 5,000 People

MAY 21, 2020

Of the nation's 328.2 million people, an estimated 206.9 million (about 63%) lived in an incorporated place as of July 1, 2019. About 76% of the approximately 19,500 incorporated places had fewer than 5,000 people. Of those, almost 42% had fewer than 500 people.

On the other hand, only 4.0% (780) of all cities had a population of 50,000 or more in 2019, yet nearly 39% of the U.S. population (127.8 million) live in those cities.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/05/america-a-nation-of-small-towns.html

39% live in incorporated places greater than 50,000 population

24% live in incorporated places less than 50,000 population

37 % live in unincorporated places

That would seem to be a lot more "rural" population than I would have thought.

[Tetrachloride]

1. How many of us have lived in small rural areas in the past 5 years

Logic alone is not enough.

Cool people, cool coordinated groups brings out the absent blue voters. There are lots of absent voters.

Some small areas are leadership potential. Richland Center, Wisconsin. Sault Saint Marie, Michigan. Ketchikan, Alaska. Maybe not those exact places, but to the locals, these places have name recognition.

Build democratic outposts which don’t fold up the day after an election.

[abqtommy]

2. I lived in south Dakota in a town of 450 people. Ten miles away the County

Seat had a population of 1,000. Thirty miles away was the city of Sioux Falls with a
current population of 190,583 (it's the largest city by population in South Dakota).
Yes, rural America is certainly a "Thing".

[cachukis]

3. Somewhat misleading.

There are a lot of towns under 50K within minutes of major cities. Those people identify with that city. Needham, Dedham, Canton around Boston. Mamaroneck, Scarsdale etc around NYC.

[Klaralven]

4. Suburbs are different socioeconomically and politically from the core cities

Dedham looks nothing like Boston.

There's a reason why suburbs resisted incorporation into the core cities.

After WW II, as the agriculture workforce declined and the rural areas emptied out, lots of rural people moved to the suburbs. They aren't just filled with former city dwellers.

[cachukis]

5. Agreed, but the megalopolis around these towns

has a large influence. Dedham and others have a rural feel, but the makeup of the town is a microcosm of the megalopolis. Having just done a cross country RV trip from FL to the Pacific Coast Hwy, space between towns is a very mitigating factor. Having just returned from a second trip to New England, I can say that the unifying factors of that part of the country are as obvious as what unites the rural independence of the west. Just saying that statistics are points of conversation.

[lark]

6. Not necessarily.

When I lived in San Jose which has a huge metro population, the street I lived on was in the county and we had very different yard rules than the people one street over who lived in the city. We could have chickens where I lived, and plant huge gardens in empty lots - couldn't do that 1 street over in the official city. I was still in the middle of San Jose, but it was an unincorporated street. I'd imagine that's what a lot of this is, the areas around citys and inside of them as well.