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Data was pulled from a table in the following Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population I used Microsoft Excel's PowerQuery function to pull the table from Wikipedia. Lists each city, its rank (based on 2020 population), some data on its area, and population in both 2020 and 2010.

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This statistic shows the top 25 cities in the United States with the highest resident population as of July 1, 2022. There were about 8.34 million people living in New York City as of July 2022.

A dataset listing Illinois cities by population for 2024.

A dataset listing Florida cities by population for 2024.

A dataset listing Washington cities by population for 2024.

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Data was pulled from a table in the following Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population I used Microsoft Excel's PowerQuery function to pull the table from Wikipedia. Lists each city, its rank (based on 2020 population), some data on its area, and population in both 2020 and 2010.

Living wages are based in US Dollars per hour, assuming 2080 hours worked per year.

In addition, living wage data from http://livingwage.mit.edu I left out the minimum wage from this dataset because it appears the data is somewhat inconsistent, and often falls back on the state minimum where localities can have a higher min wage. I also omitted the poverty wage data because for the most part it seemed to be the same for most areas. One last thing to keep in mind is some cities are grouped up into metropolitan statistical areas, and as a result you will see cities that are near each other have identical data.

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In 2023, the metropolitan area of New York-Newark-Jersey City had the biggest population in the United States. Based on annual estimates from the census, the metropolitan area had around 19.5 million inhabitants, which was a slight decrease from the previous year. The Los Angeles and Chicago metro areas rounded out the top three. What is a metropolitan statistical area? In general, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a core urbanized area with a population of at least 50,000 inhabitants – the smallest MSA is Carson City, with an estimated population of nearly 56,000. The urban area is made bigger by adjacent communities that are socially and economically linked to the center. MSAs are particularly helpful in tracking demographic change over time in large communities and allow officials to see where the largest pockets of inhabitants are in the country. How many MSAs are in the United States? There were 421 metropolitan statistical areas across the U.S. as of July 2021. The largest city in each MSA is designated the principal city and will be the first name in the title. An additional two cities can be added to the title, and these will be listed in population order based on the most recent census. So, in the example of New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York has the highest population, while Jersey City has the lowest. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts an official population count every ten years, and the new count is expected to be announced by the end of 2030.

Where should we live in the next 10 years? Where should we settle down without relying on public transport? Which city should we move to without fearing losing our homes?

As weather patterns become more unpredictable with aggressive changes in temperatures, I collected some data below to see if there would be a city that could help assess our answers to the prior questions. I am curious to see if cities that typically have great infrastructure for walking, biking or public transit will be better prepared than those that are more typically car centric. Whichever you prefer, we can have a sense on where you might be migrating, and to which areas.

Here's how the data was collected:

1. Rhodium & ProPublica's combined work on counties risk factors against climate change across continental US (excludes Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Guam. Washington D.C, is excluded as it does not have a county.)
2. The available Walk Score of major cities that have a population above 100,000 represented. Cities like Delaware's Wilmington or Maine's Portland are not considered as it falls under a small-city definition
3. Maximum temperatures (for select cities): This dataset is collected from the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource by Prof. Aaron Smith. I selected a monthly temporal unit and county spatial unit ranging from 2019 - 2024 July. This dataset is extracted based on the average of highest temperatures in each selected counties. I did not use the overall daily average as it can easily shadow the extremities of temperature fluctuations.

The columns have different rating systems. The counties have all major climate risks expected in the future, while corresponding cities in each county have walking, transit and biking scores to assess livability without cars.

Understanding County Climate Risks The counties were were represented on a 1- 10 scale, based on RCP 8.5 levels. Here are the following explanations (0 = lowest, 10 = highest)

1) Heat: Heat is one of the largest drivers changing the niche of human habitability. Rhodium Group researchers estimate that, between 2040 and 2060 extreme temperatures, many counties will face extremely high temperatures for half a year. The measure shows how many weeks per year will we anticipate temperatures to soar above 95 degrees. (0 = 0 weeks, 10 = 26 weeks).

2) Wet Bulb: Wet bulb temperatures occur when heat meets excessive humidity. This is commonplace across cities that have a urban island heat effects (dense concentration of pavements, less nature, higher chances of absorbing heat). That combination creates wet bulb temperatures, where 82 degrees can feel like southern Alabama on its hottest day, making it dangerous to work outdoors and for children to play school sports. As wet bulb temperatures increase even higher, so will the risk of heat stroke — and even death. The measure shows how many days will a county experience high wet bulb temperatures yearly, from 2040 to 2060. (0 = 0 days, 10 = 70 days)

3) Farm Crop Yield: With rising temperatures, it will become more difficult to grow food. Corn and soy are the most prevalent crops in the U.S. and the basis for livestock feed and other staple foods, and they have critical economic significance. Because of their broad regional spread, they offer the best proxy for predicting how farming will be affected by rising temperatures and changing water supplies. As corn and soy production gets more sensitive to heat than drought, the US will see a huge continental divide between cooler counties now having more ability to produce, while current warmer counties loosing all abilities to produce basic crops. The expected measure shows the percent decline yields from 2040 to 2060 (0 = -20.5% decline, 10 = 92% decline).

4) Sea Level Rise: As sea levels rise, the share of property submerged by high tides increases dramatically, affecting a small sliver of the nation's land but a disproportionate share of its population. The rating measures how much of property in the county will go below high tide from 2040 to 2060 (0 = 0%, 10 = 25%).

5) Very Large Fires: With heat and evermore prevalent drought, the likelihood that very large wildfires (ones that burn over 12,000 acres) will affect U.S. regions increases substantially, particularly in the West, Northwest and the Rocky Mountains. The rating calculates how many average number of large fires will we expect to see per year (0 = N/A, 10 = 2.45) from 2040 to 2071.

6) Economic Damages: Rising energy costs, lower labor productivity, poor crop yields and increasing cr...

A dataset listing Alabama cities by population for 2024.

How many incorporated places are registered in the U.S.?

There were 19,502 incorporated places registered in the United States as of July 31, 2019. 16,410 had a population under 10,000 while, in contrast, only 10 cities had a population of one million or more.

Small-town America

Suffice it to say, almost nothing is more idealized in the American imagination than small-town America. When asked where they would prefer to live, 30 percent of Americans reported that they would prefer to live in a small town. Americans tend to prefer small-town living due to a perceived slower pace of life, close-knit communities, and a more affordable cost of living when compared to large cities.

An increasing population

Despite a preference for small-town life, metropolitan areas in the U.S. still see high population figures, with the New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago metro areas being the most populous in the country. Metro and state populations are projected to increase by 2040, so while some may move to small towns to escape city living, those small towns may become more crowded in the upcoming decades.

A dataset listing Montana cities by population for 2024.

A dataset listing Arkansas cities by population for 2024.

This dataset supports the findings in "How Female Local Officials Shine a Light on Street Safety: A Look into the Largest U.S. Cities." The dependent variable data of city councils' prioritization of street safety consisted of original data collection from 100 cities' 2022 budgetary documents. The independent variable of city council demographics was sourced from the Reflective Democracy Campaign, which lists the race and gender of elected leaders from the 100 largest U.S. cities in 2020 (https://wholeads.us/research/americas-cities-data/).

A dataset listing Mississippi cities by population for 2024.

A dataset listing Tennessee cities by population for 2024.

The Austin Parks and Recreation System's ranking on the Trust for Public Land ParkScore Index. This index ranks the park systems of the 100 largest cities in the U.S. based on park acreage, park size, park funding, park access, and a variety of other factors. The three factors that make up ParkScore all reflect quality: good park systems need adequate acreage, services and investment, and access. For this metric and visual, lower scores are better.

A dataset listing South Dakota cities by population for 2024.

A dataset of the top 100 most commonly searched U.S. city-to-city driving distances for 2024–2025, compiled from migration and search behavior trends and verified against MapDevelopers and Google Maps.

In 2022, San Francisco had the highest median household income of cities ranking within the top 25 in terms of population, with a median household income in of 136,692 U.S. dollars. In that year, San Jose in California was ranked second, and Seattle, Washington third.

Following a fall after the great recession, median household income in the United States has been increasing in recent years. As of 2022, median household income by state was highest in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Utah, and Massachusetts. It was lowest in Mississippi, West Virginia, and Arkansas. Families with an annual income of 25,000 and 49,999 U.S. dollars made up the largest income bracket in America, with about 25.26 million households.

Data on median household income can be compared to statistics on personal income in the U.S. released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal income rose to around 21.8 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022, the highest value recorded. Personal income is a measure of the total income received by persons from all sources, while median household income is “the amount with divides the income distribution into two equal groups,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Half of the population in question lives above median income and half lives below. Though total personal income has increased in recent years, this wealth is not distributed throughout the population. In practical terms, income of most households has decreased. One additional statistic illustrates this disparity: for the lowest quintile of workers, mean household income has remained more or less steady for the past decade at about 13 to 16 thousand constant U.S. dollars annually. Meanwhile, income for the top five percent of workers has actually risen from about 285,000 U.S. dollars in 1990 to about 499,900 U.S. dollars in 2020.

A dataset listing South Carolina cities by population for 2024.