10 Largest Capital Cities in the United States

The​ United States of America is one of the world's largest countries, based on both area (3.797 million square miles) and population (over 327 million). It is made up of 50 individual states and Washington, D.C., its national capital. Each of these states also has its own capital city and other very large and small cities.

These state capitals vary in size, and some are very large when compared to other, small capital cities, but all are important to politics. Interestingly, though, some of the largest and most important cities in the U.S., like New York City, New York and Los Angeles, California, are not the capitals of their states.

The following is a list of the ten largest capital cities in the U.S. For reference, the state that they are in, along with the population of the state's largest city (if it is not the capital) have also been included. The city population figures are census estimates for 2018.

1. Phoenix
Population: 1,660,272
State: Arizona
Largest City: Phoenix

2. Austin
Population: 964,254
State: Texas
Largest City: Houston (2,325,502) 

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3. Columbus
Population: 892,553
State: Ohio
Largest City: Columbus

4. Indianapolis
Population: 867,125
State: Indiana
Largest City: Indianapolis​

5. Denver
Population: 716,492
State: Colorado
Largest City: Denver

6. Boston
Population: 694,583
State: Massachusetts
Largest City: Boston

7. Nashville
Population: 669,053
State: Tennessee
Largest City: Nashville-Davidson

8. Oklahoma City
Population: 649,021
State: Oklahoma
Largest City: Oklahoma City

9. Sacramento
Population: 508,529
State: California
Largest City: Los Angeles (3,990,456)​

10. Atlanta
Population: 498,044
State: Georgia
Largest City: Atlanta

Sources

• “U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Phoenix City, Arizona.” Census Bureau QuickFacts.
• Countries. SkyscraperPage.com.
• Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS). “American FactFinder—Results.” American FactFinder—Results, 5 Oct. 2010.