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Supersized America: The Eye-Popping Numbers Behind Our Biggest Cities

Cities bigger than entire countries

April 2022

Script

This video is part of our Kite & Key Shorts series—easy to understand...but hard to forget.

 

It’s no secret that Americans like to go big. And that’s even true of our population centers.

New York City is America’s biggest metropolitan area, with a population of over 20 million.i The Big Apple is so large that even some of its subregions are enormous.

For instance, more people live on Long Island (which includes Brooklyn and Queens)ii ... than in the entire country of Ireland.iii

The Southern California megaregion is another huge population center. The 10 counties that make up the area have a population of nearly 24 million.iv That means that SoCal has more people than all but two states.v

America’s next great region is likely to be the Texas Triangle. The nearly 60,000-square-mile regionvi contains all of the Lone Star State’s major metropolitan areas: Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Houston, and Austin.

From 2010 to 2020, the Texas Triangle’s population grew by over 20% ... reaching nearly 20 million.vii And it’s estimated that by the middle of the next decade, the region will have a larger population than present-day Australia.viii

Seems like everything really is bigger in Texas.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

  1. More people live on Long Island than in the entire country of Ireland.
  2. Southern California has more people than all but two states.
  3. By the middle of the next decade, the “Texas Triangle” is projected to have a larger population than present-day Australia.

Sources

  1. "2020 Population and Housing State Data" — U.S. Census Bureau
  2. "QuickFacts" — U.S. Census Bureau
  3. "Population and Migration Estimates, April 2021" — Ireland Central Statistics Office
  4. "California Remained Most Populous State but Growth Slowed Last Decade" (America Counts Staff) — U.S. Census Bureau
  5. "Census — Table Results" — U.S. Census Bureau
  6. "Texas Urban Triangle: Framework for Future Growth" (Michael Neuman, Elise Bright) — Texas Transportation Institute
  7. "Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Totals: 2010-2020" — U.S. Census Bureau
  8. "2018 Texas Population Projections Data Tool" — Texas Demographic Center
    "Population" — Australian Bureau of Statistics 

Shownotes

SOUND: “Temper Shaker” (Air in Motion)

FOOTAGE: Andreas M (Unsplash)

CITED SOURCES AND NEWS OUTLETS ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH AND HAVE NOT ENDORSED OR SPONSORED ANY PORTION OF THIS PRODUCTION.

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau
    "2020 Population and Housing State Data" 
  2. U.S. Census Bureau
    "QuickFacts" 
  3. Ireland Central Statistics Office
    "Population and Migration Estimates, April 2021" 
  4. U.S. Census Bureau
    "California Remained Most Populous State but Growth Slowed Last Decade" (America Counts Staff) 
  5. U.S. Census Bureau
    "Census — Table Results" 
  6. Texas Transportation Institute
    "Texas Urban Triangle: Framework for Future Growth" (Michael Neuman, Elise Bright) 
  7. U.S. Census Bureau
    "Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Totals: 2010-2020" 
  8. Texas Demographic Center
    "2018 Texas Population Projections Data Tool" 
  9. Australian Bureau of Statistics
    "Population" 

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