Peter wrote me to ask me for a list of the smallest cities in the United States by area. I went to the County and City Data Books site and produced a list of cities by area. It turns out these are the smallest (with area in square miles) cities as of the 2000 edition of the publication...
1. West New York Town, NJ (1.00)
2. Maywood City, CA (1.20)
4. Hoboken City, NJ (1.30)
4. Union City City, NJ (1.30)
5. Central Falls, RI (1.50)
6. West Hollywood City, CA (1.90)
7. Lawndale City, CA (2.00)
9. Garfield City, NJ (2.10)
9. Long Beach City, NY (2.10)
10. Chelsea City, MA (2.20)
13. Bell City, CA (2.50)
13. Bell Gardens City, CA (2.50)
13. Fort Lee Borough, NJ (2.50)
Comments
Please check the size of the City of Central Falls, Rhode Island it is about one square mile and is not on your list.
Thanks for the note! It appears that Central Falls is about 1.5 miles so deserves a place on the list! I’ve added it…
I think you’ll find Hermosa Beach, California, and Avalon, California, should be on your list, as well, at 1.3 and 1.18 square miles, respectively. We enjoy your site.
Thanks Jay! I wonder why the County/City Data Book is so non-inclusive and missed so many locales?!?
Can you actually count West New York, NJ and Fort Lee, NJ, as cities when legally they are not? Officially, West New York is a “town,” and Fort Lee is a “borough” under New Jersey’s five separate types of municipal government (borough, city, town, township, and village).
I should probably point out the city of Maywood Park, Oregon… it’s .2 square miles… and sits smack dab in the middle of Portland Oregon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maywood_Park,_Oregon
Perhaps the County and City Data Book has a minimum size of one square mile for inclusion?
i wanted to know if anyone knew the least populous town in the united states…i believe it to be ismay montana w/a population of 26 but am not sure…if anyone can find out please let me know thanks!
Check out City of Darfur, MN. This is the true smallest City in the United States.
Dalworthington Gardens, Texas (population appx. 2300)is 1.9 square miles, of which .1 is water. It, and its neighbor Pantego, are completely surrounded by the city of Arlington, between Dallas and Fort Worth. Its name comes from DALlas, fort WORTH, and arlINGTON. It was started as a community for families with a commuter working in Dallas (28 miles) or Fort Worth (15 miles), but who wanted to raise animals or crops on their land. This planned community was created under the auspices of the Federal Subsistence Homestead Corporation, as part of Rooselevlt’s “New Deal”, due in part to Eleanor Rooselvelt coming to visit her married daughter who lived here. Today there are still small older homes with goats, donekys and horses in the yard, as well as some gardens that stretch the definition by thweir size, in the same neighborhood with multi-million dollar mansions. To their credit, the city government resists all attempts by newer residents to rezone it to exclude livestock and farming.
Parrott Ga, approx pop 150 Area is 0.78 sq miles
Tenney Minnesota has an area of about .05 square miles according to the US Census bureau. It was incorporated in 1901, and despite its small size it has never relinquished its official status as a city.
How about Vergennes, Vermont? total area of 6.5 km˛ (2.5 mi˛ and the oldest incorporated city in Vermont and one of the oldest in the country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vergennes,_Vermont
Thanks!
jill
the smallest city that i know of is athelstan iowa it has the Population of 18
Well im wrong
jill,
the smallest city in the us is has the population of 5 and the name is Maza North Dakota
Hey i live in a town that is less than 1.00 square mile. Its called Guttenberg and it shares a zipcode with West New York.
West New York iitself is large
I am moving to Adams, North Dakota and that is approximately 1 square mile.
Check Aldrich, Minnesota it has approximately 1/2 a square mile and a population of a 53.
Hawaiian Gardens in Southern California is .96 square miles, thus making it the smallest city by area in Los Angeles County (www.city-data.com/city/Hawaiian-Gardens-California.html). It is also home to one of the very best Catholic Churches in Southern California, St. Peter Chanel (www.spcomv.com).
CHELSEA, MASS. IS 1.8 SQ. MILES NOT 2.2
Farmingdale, New Jersey (in Monmouth County) is 0.5 square miles!
I grew up in the northwest Iowa area and there are MANY more little towns to add to this list. Here are two…
Ringsted 1.08 square miles
Fenton 0.35 square miles
i think the city of beverly,n.j. should be on the list.i think it is under 1 square mile
What is a city, C5 classification?
sherrill ny is the smallest city in ny
i heard it was second in u.s.
i think it is 2 miles by 2 miles
The city of Pleasant Ridge, MI is .6 square miles. It is located between Ferndale and Royal Oak in Oakland County, just north of Detroit. The city boasts that it is the smallest incorporated city in the United States. The square miles are based upon information from Wikipedia. However, I do not even know if it is that big. In trying to think about the city itself, it is less than a half a mile long and probably about a half a mile wide.
Colfax, California is 1.10 square miles.
slapout oklahoma is the smallest city I know about. It is in the panhandle and it is a gas station on one side of the highway and a hotel on the other with a few trailer houses and it is about 1/2 mile long on the highway. probably 1/4 square miles of land area. check it out.
Valley City, Illinois
It is .2miles and has a population of 14people.
Climax Springs, Missouri is 0.3 square miles, and Cumming, Georgia is 5.9.
Hometown, IL is less than half a square mile and has near 5,000 people to it. It is not only one of the smallest cities in the United States but also one of the most densely populated.
Puru in Kansas where Obama grandmother is 0.4 square mile and I dont see in the list
What about Cudahy and Hawaiian Gardens, both in Los Angeles County????
There’s also a city in MN called La Salle, which is .1 square miles…
Pamplin City, VA is .3 miles.
Actually the smallest city is in Parker Pa.
There are signs up all around the city, so it has been proven to be the smallest
east newark, n.j. is .2 sq miles.
According to Wikipedia (I know, I know), Donnybrook, North Dakota has an area of .7 miles.
You forget Del Rey california
its a very tiny town you need to visit it
Mechanicville, New York should be on that list. It is total .9 square miles ~ .8 being land .1 being water
Check out HAMTRAMCK, Michigan. It’s a tiny enclave, surrounded by the city of Detroit, but independent of it.
To add to the interesting small towns that are being added here, I’d include Teterboro, NJ, which is 1.1 sq. mi., almost all of it is comprised of Teterboro Airport (which is 827 acres in size).
You may have heard the name Teterboro recently as that was the airport that was briefly considered by US Airways Flight 1549 as a possible landing place before pilot Chelsy Sullenberger successfully ditched the plane in the Hudson River.
While the 2000 census listed the population as 18 making it the smallest town in New Jersey, except that the census takers neglected to count people living in 12 new apartments that had been built in 1999 which caused the population to swell to 3 times that number. Forgotten in the census was the mayor and four councilman who lived in those apartments.
Still, when you remove the airport from the picture, Teterboro is a tiny, tiny town.
Mechanicville, NY 12118. Look it up. It is the smallest city in the United states. It is 0.9 miles in complete space. 0.9 is smaller than 1.0…
Towns should not be included, just cities. Cause if you are going by just cities, then Mechanicivlle is the smalles city in the united states and possibly the world. It is 0.9 miles and 0.1 is water.
You should check some cities from Upstate and Central NY there is some very small cities there
I’d like for you to look into Augusta Ks, Gordon Kansas, and Rock Kansas. thanks =D
city of parker p.a. a true city 945 people at one time in the oil boom had 18000 . and still has its city charter and it is the smallest city in the u.s
please cheack Bridge City,Texas it is very small
Check out Best Arkansas I think it has a population of 3 or 4. As well as clifty Arkansas not sure of the mileage sizes but both are very small.
It appears that some of the cities in your list might be towns, the distinction being its form of government. I teach in the aforementioned city of Vergennes, VT, pop.3000 (by charter and government a city). I’d like to inform the kids that while we’re the smallest city in a small state, this is where we stand in the nation.
Please check Clayton, ID. It is not on your list and I think that maybe it should be.
you need to make finding facts much easier.i went on here and typed north dakotas smallest cities and all it said was north dakota has a lot of small cities…i know that i just want to know what those small cities are!!! no disrepect but this company and this website needs help!!!!!!
i thought sherrill ny was the smallest city in the usa
Winooski vt should be on that list somewhere with a size of 1.5 sq mi and a population of 6500+ ^-^
Wellington, MO 1.1 sq. miles and Mayview MO is only 0.2 Sq. miles….
i think the site you got your information from is all jacked up because Callahan FL is 1.3 mi˛ and it’s not on the list
I think you need to check Hi-Nella, New jersey…
Vergennes, Vermont also has an area of 2.5 square miles.
Wevki Wachee, Florida is 1 sq. mile population 12
Beverly City, New Jersey is the smallest city in the United States (0.8 miles)….consequently my hometown. Google me. Lol.
I think you need to check Cedar Springs, MI. My hometown is only about 1.9 square miles, 1.8 of that is land and .04 is of water.
LakEline, oHIO .1 Square miles trully the smallest
What about the smallest cities by population. I’ve got a good one. How about Keene, NH. There’s only about 21000 people living in this city.
belle plaine, KS it’s a city, not a town or village, and it’s .8 square miles
You should check out Alma Center, Wisconsin…Its very very small!! Or Comfort, Texas!
My God look what you started LOL. Just kidding! Very Interesting, Thanks for the info!
the city of brice ohio is less than 1 sq mile with less than 100 people
Can you check the size of Ivanhoe, VA?
Covina, California…less then 1 mile!
You could add the City of Southside Place in Texas. Completely surrounded by Houston but idependent of it. 0.2 square miles.
i think taos,NewMexico is the smallest town do u
Check out Tobin CA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobin,_California
Population….. 11
Omer Michigan is only 1.2 sq mi
I live in Parker PA . It is known to be the smallest city in the usa!!
the town of winooski, vt is roughly 1.5 square miles and should be included on your list
Alamo Heights, TX should be on your list at 1.8 sq mi, thanks!
travistock new jersey is a municipality of .6 square miles with a population of 5
Randolph, maine. Little bit south of Agusta(the capitol). It is listed at about 2.1 square miles. Everyone seems to forget about us up here. How would you feel if we just stopped making your popsicle sticks!? Huh! Lol. Anyways..
City of Rose City, Michigan 1.08 sq miles population 653
Rosman NC. Smallest population in North Carolina.
Mechanicville, NY is a city at .9 sq miles. That’s less than the smallest one on that list.
The city of Winooski, Vermont also belongs on this list at 1.5 square miles.
Maza, North Dakota-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maza,_North_Dakota
Actually Guttenberg, NJ has the the smallest area with 0.196 square miles of land.
But going by population, it has over 10,000 residents. So it depends on how one is measuring size.
central falls, rhode island
Asbury Park NJ-1.6 Square miles. Asbury Park is a true city, not a borough or town. Also the 17,000 year round residents make its demographics more city-like than many of the town which are incorporated as cities or just use the word city in their names.
Check out Guttenberg NJ. It’s 1/5 of a square mile, and has about 11,176 people. It is the most densely populated incorporated place in the country.
WAR WEST VIRGINIA
.9 SQUARE MI.
IT’S THE ONLY CITY WITH
THAT NAME
Blackwolf or Frederick KS
Blackwolf population is 3 or less
Frederick is 15 or less
I believe that the smallest fully incorporated city in the US is Hilltop, Minnesota with a land area of 0.1 sq. mi.
hapeville, georgia. 2.2 sq. mile..its not on the list
The City of Hawaiian Gardens, CA is located in Los Angeles County and covers 9/10th of a square mile. It is an incorporated City and has a population of approximately 15,000.
I think alot of you are confusing your municipalities. Although many of locations you have mentioned are municipalities, they are not cities. The original question is about the smallest city, not the smallest incorporated municipality. This means if it is not a city..it doesnt count. Towns, townships, boroughs, hamlets, villages, etc. All do not count.
Jamesburg, new jersey is .883 sq.mi.
There must be at least one city in Michigan that should be on this list.
Deaconsville Iowa is only .74 square miles
Don’t forget about Tonasket, WA. It has a square area of 0.6 sq miles
Central Falls, Rhode Island which is only 1.29 square mile, is also very populated with approximately 20,000 people living here. Amazing!!
there is also Mechanicville New York its about 1 square mile
Royal Oak Charter Township of Michigan is 0.55 sq mi has 2419 residents as of late 2012.
City of roosevelt park michigan is 1square mile and has its own police department
Roosevelt park mi. 1 sq. Mile and it has its own police force its in muskegon county mi
Remerton, Georgia is only .21 square miles.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Remerton-Georgia.html
Payne Georgia, to be dissolved this year, is the size of a dot.
its monowi ne. it has 1 population