Please follow this link for the latest and most up-to-date metropolitan area population estimates.
by Matt Rosenberg
January 1, 2002
The United States Census Bureau recently released population data for counties and metropolitan areas based on the 2000 Census. Below are lists of the fifteen most populous counties, fifteen least populous counties, and the fifteen most populous metropolitan areas.
Largest Counties
| Rank |
County |
2000 Pop. |
| 1 |
Los Angeles Co., California |
9,519,338 |
| 2 |
Cook Co., Illinois |
5,376,741 |
| 3 |
Harris Co., Texas |
3,400,578 |
| 4 |
Maricopa Co., Arizona |
3,072,149 |
| 5 |
Orange Co., California |
2,846,289 |
| 6 |
San Diego Co., California |
2,813,833 |
| 7 |
Kings Co., New York |
2,465,326 |
| 8 |
Miami-Dade Co., Florida |
2,253,362 |
| 9 |
Queens Co., New York |
2,229,379 |
| 10 |
Dallas Co., Texas |
2,218,899 |
| 11 |
Wayne Co., Michigan |
2,061,162 |
| 12 |
King Co., Washington |
1,737,034 |
| 13 |
San Bernardino Co., California |
1,709,434 |
| 14 |
Santa Clara Co., California |
1,682,585 |
| 15 |
Broward Co., Florida |
1,623,018 |
Smallest Counties
| Rank |
County |
2000 Pop. |
| 1 |
Loving Co., Texas |
67 |
| 2 |
Kalawao Co., Hawaii |
147 |
| 3 |
King Co., Texas |
356 |
| 4 |
Kenedy Co., Texas |
414 |
| 5 |
Arthur Co., Nebraska |
444 |
| 6 |
Petroleum Co., Montana |
493 |
| 7 |
McPherson Co., Nebraska |
533 |
| 8 |
San Juan Co., Colorado |
558 |
| 9 |
Blaine Co., Nebraska |
583 |
| 10 |
Loup Co., Nebraska |
712 |
| 11 |
Thomas Co., Nebraska |
729 |
| 12 |
Borden Co., Texas |
729 |
| 13 |
Grant Co., Nebraska |
747 |
| 14 |
Slope Co., North Dakota |
767 |
| 15 |
Logan Co., Nebraska |
774 |
Largest Metrpolitan Areas
| Rank |
Metropolitan Area Name |
States |
2000 Pop. |
| 1 |
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island |
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania |
21,199,865 |
| 2 |
Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County |
California |
16,373,645 |
| 3 |
Chicago-Gary-Kenosha |
Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin |
9,157,540 |
| 4 |
Washington-Baltimore |
District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia |
7,608,070 |
| 5 |
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose |
California |
7,039,362 |
| 6 |
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City |
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland |
6,188,463 |
| 7 |
Boston-Worcester-Lawrence |
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut |
5,819,100 |
| 8 |
Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint |
Michigan |
5,456,428 |
| 9 |
Dallas-Fort Worth |
Texas |
5,221,801 |
| 10 |
Houston-Galveston-Brazoria |
Texas |
4,669,571 |
| 11 |
Atlanta |
Georgia |
4,112,198 |
| 12 |
Miami-Fort Lauderdale |
Florida |
3,876,380 |
| 13 |
Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton |
Washington |
3,554,760 |
| 14 |
Phoenix-Mesa |
Arizona |
3,251,876 |
| 15 |
Minneapolis-St. Paul |
Minnesota, Wisconsin |
2,968,806 |
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