Russia's capital, Moscow, was the largest city in the country with over **** million residents as of January 1, 2024. Less than a half of Moscow's population resided in Saint Petersburg, the second-most populous city in the country. The third-largest city, Novosibirsk, was located in the Siberian Federal District, being the highest-populated city in the Asian part of Russia. Why is Moscow so populated? The Russian capital is the center of political, industrial, business, and cultural life in Russia. Despite being one of the most expensive cities worldwide, it continues to attract people from Russia and abroad, with its resident population following a generally upward trend over the past decade. Wages in Moscow are higher than in Russia on average, and more opportunities for employment and investment are available in the capital. Furthermore, the number of people living in Moscow was forecast to continue rising, exceeding **** million by 2035. Urbanization in Russia In 2024, around *** million Russian residents lived in cities. That was approximately three-quarters of the country’s population. The urbanization rate increased steadily over the 20th century, leading to a decline in the rural population. Among the country’s regions, the Northwestern Federal District had the highest share of residents in urban areas, measured at ** percent. In the Central Federal District, the tendency was that more people moved to Moscow and cities in the Moscow Oblast.

Among Russian cities with more than one million inhabitants, the country's capital Moscow received the highest urban environmental quality index score of *** out of 360 points in 2024, based on six criteria and six types of area. The second-leading city in this category was Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, while Kazan ranked third.

Population in largest city in Russia was reported at 12712305 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Russia - Population in largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Russia was reported at 11.76 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Russia - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

As of January 1, 2024, 109.5 million inhabitants lived in Russian cities, opposed to 36.6 million people living in the countryside. The rural population of Russia saw a gradual decrease over the observed time period.

This database provides construction of Large Urban Regions (LUR) in Russia. A Large Urban Region (LUR) can be defined as an aggregation of continuous statistical units around a core that are economically dependent on this core and linked to it by economic and social strong interdependences. The main purpose of this delineation is to make cities comparable on the national and world scales and to make comparative social-economic urban studies. Aggregating different municipal districts around a core city, we construct a single large urban region, which allows to include all the area of economic influence of a core into one statistical unit (see Rogov & Rozenblat, 2020 for more details) thus, changing a city position in a global urban hierarchy. In doing so we use four principal urban concepts (Pumain et al., 1992): political definition, morphological definition, functional definition and conurbation that we call Large Urban Region. We constructed Russian LURs using criteria such as population distribution, road networks, access to an airport, distance from a core, presence of multinational firms. In this database, we provide population data for LURs and their administrative units.

With a score of 23.62, Moscow was the leading city for startups in Russia in 2024. Saint Petersburg followed, having earned a score of 1.66 in the period observed. Furthermore, the Russia's capital ranked the major city for startups in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The score was based on several indicators, such as the number of startups in each city, the startups' qualitative results, and the cities' business and economic indicators.

Among Russian cities with 100,000 to 250,000 inhabitants, Reutov, located in the Moscow Oblast, received the highest urban environmental quality index score of 301 out of 360 points in 2024, based on six criteria and six types of area. The second-leading city in this category was Krasnogorsk.

Among Russian cities with 250,000 to one million inhabitants, Tyumen received the highest urban environmental quality index score of *** out of 360 points in 2024, based on six criteria and six types of area. Ryazan and Yaroslavl followed with scores of *** and *** points, respectively.

Two Russian cities were included in the Top 100 Super Cities list of Tholons Globalization Services Index in 2020. The capital Moscow was the most attractive for business innovations in the country, ranked 23rd worldwide in 2019 and improving its position reaching 18 on the list by 2020. Russian second largest city Saint Petersburg was placed 51st. The rank of Saint Petersburg dropped by almost 20 positions compared to the previous year.

Viewers aged 65 and older living in cities with over 100,000 inhabitants spent the longest time spent watching television in Russia between September 2023 and August 2024, recorded at six hours and 45 minutes per day. To compare, the audience between 12 and 17 years old spent just over an hour in front of a TV set daily.

The data is to evaluate the impact of restrictive measures introduced in connection with COVID-19 on consumption and, accordingly, on electricity generation in Russian cities, which were most susceptible to outbreaks of the coronavirus infection (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod). Currently, based on available data, the mobility of the population has decreased resulting in lower demand for electricity during self-isolation. Therefore, the study will be based on the hypothesis that similar changes in human behavior can be expected in the future with further spread of COVID-19 and/or the introduction of additional quarantine measures in major cities around the world. The analysis also yielded additional results: the strongest reductions in energy generation occurred in cities with high building density (7% in Moscow, 14% in Yekaterinburg). Furthermore, the decrease in energy generation in cities with low building density was not so dramatic (1% in St. Petersburg, 0% - Nizhny Novgorod). The study uses two models created with Keras LSTM. The first model forecasts power generation and uses 76 parameters. The second LSTM model forecasts new COVID-19 cases across countries, in which 10 parameters are involved.

On Sunday, September 12, 2021, the highest self-isolation index among Russian cities with over one million inhabitants was measured in Omsk at 2.8 points, indicating that there was a high number of people on the streets. In the capital Moscow, where most COVID-19 cases in Russia were recorded, the index reached two points. The non-working period in Russia ended on May 12, 2020.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

This horizontal bar chart displays health expenditure (% of GDP) by capital city using the aggregation average, weighted by gdp in Russia. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

This horizontal bar chart displays vulnerable employment (% of total employment) by capital city using the aggregation average in Russia. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

Customers of bookstores located in Moscow and Saint Petersburg spent more than those in other regions of Russia in January 2023. Over 60 percent of consumers in the country's two largest cities spent at least 501 Russian rubles on average in bookstores, while the largest share of buyers in other localities nationwide expended less than 300 Russian rubles.

Russia Luxury Residential Real Estate Market Report is Segmented by Property Type (Apartments & Condominiums, Villas & Landed Houses), by Business Model (Sales and Rental), by Mode of Sale (Primary (New-Build) and Secondary (Existing-Home Resale)), and by City (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Other Cities). The Report Offers Market Size and Forecasts in Value (USD) for all the Above Segments.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset presents the median household incomes over the past decade across various racial categories identified by the U.S. Census Bureau in Russia. It portrays the median household income of the head of household across racial categories (excluding ethnicity) as identified by the Census Bureau. It also showcases the annual income trends, between 2011 and 2021, providing insights into the economic shifts within diverse racial communities.The dataset can be utilized to gain insights into income disparities and variations across racial categories, aiding in data analysis and decision-making..

Key observations

• White: In Russia, the median household income for the households where the householder is White increased by $15,148(25.42%), between 2011 and 2021. The median household income, in 2022 inflation-adjusted dollars, was $59,595 in 2011 and $74,743 in 2021.
• Black or African American: Even though there is a population where the householder is Black or African American, there was no median household income reported by the U.S. Census Bureau for both 2011 and 2021.
• Refer to the research insights for more key observations on American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, Some other race and Two or more races (multiracial) households

https://i.neilsberg.com/ch/russia-oh-median-household-income-by-race-trends.jpeg" alt="Russia, OH median household income trends across races (2011-2021, in 2022 inflation-adjusted dollars)">

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2017-2021 5-Year Estimates.

Racial categories include:

• White
• Black or African American
• American Indian and Alaska Native
• Asian
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
• Some other race
• Two or more races (multiracial)

Variables / Data Columns

• Race of the head of household: This column presents the self-identified race of the household head, encompassing all relevant racial categories (excluding ethnicity) applicable in Russia.
• 2010: 2010 median household income
• 2011: 2011 median household income
• 2012: 2012 median household income
• 2013: 2013 median household income
• 2014: 2014 median household income
• 2015: 2015 median household income
• 2016: 2016 median household income
• 2017: 2017 median household income
• 2018: 2018 median household income
• 2019: 2019 median household income
• 2020: 2020 median household income
• 2021: 2021 median household income
• 2022: 2022 median household income
• Please note: 2020 1-Year ACS estimates data was not reported by Census Bureau due to impact on survey collection and analysis during COVID-19, thus for large cities (population 65,000 and above) median household income data is not available.
• Please note: All incomes have been adjusted for inflation and are presented in 2022-inflation-adjusted dollars.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for Russia median household income by race. You can refer the same here

Results of the 2010 Complete Russian Federation population census. The main aim of the 2010 census was to find out the exact size of the population across all population centers in the country, ranging from “millionaires’ cities” to the very smallest villages that may have just one inhabitant. The 2010 census was conducted on the basis of the Federal All-Russian Population Census Act, which makes participation a civil and social obligation. The list of questions under the Act, on which population data are collected does not include a person’s family name, first name, or patronymic.

As of September 2020, Moscow had the biggest amount of public routes, among which the largest number was accounted for bus routes and tram lines. The Russian northern capital Saint Petersburg, followed next with a total number of 838 routes of public transport.