In 2023, Washington, D.C. had the highest population density in the United States, with 11,130.69 people per square mile. As a whole, there were about 94.83 residents per square mile in the U.S., and Alaska was the state with the lowest population density, with 1.29 residents per square mile. The problem of population density Simply put, population density is the population of a country divided by the area of the country. While this can be an interesting measure of how many people live in a country and how large the country is, it does not account for the degree of urbanization, or the share of people who live in urban centers. For example, Russia is the largest country in the world and has a comparatively low population, so its population density is very low. However, much of the country is uninhabited, so cities in Russia are much more densely populated than the rest of the country. Urbanization in the United States While the United States is not very densely populated compared to other countries, its population density has increased significantly over the past few decades. The degree of urbanization has also increased, and well over half of the population lives in urban centers.

This graph shows the population of the U.S. by race and ethnic group from 2000 to 2023. In 2023, there were around 21.39 million people of Asian origin living in the United States. A ranking of the most spoken languages across the world can be accessed here. U.S. populationCurrently, the white population makes up the vast majority of the United States’ population, accounting for some 252.07 million people in 2023. This ethnicity group contributes to the highest share of the population in every region, but is especially noticeable in the Midwestern region. The Black or African American resident population totaled 45.76 million people in the same year. The overall population in the United States is expected to increase annually from 2022, with the 320.92 million people in 2015 expected to rise to 341.69 million people by 2027. Thus, population densities have also increased, totaling 36.3 inhabitants per square kilometer as of 2021. Despite being one of the most populous countries in the world, following China and India, the United States is not even among the top 150 most densely populated countries due to its large land mass. Monaco is the most densely populated country in the world and has a population density of 24,621.5 inhabitants per square kilometer as of 2021. As population numbers in the U.S. continues to grow, the Hispanic population has also seen a similar trend from 35.7 million inhabitants in the country in 2000 to some 62.65 million inhabitants in 2021. This growing population group is a significant source of population growth in the country due to both high immigration and birth rates. The United States is one of the most racially diverse countries in the world.

This graph shows the population density of the United States of America from 1790 to 2019. In 2019, the population density was approximately 92.9 residents per square mile of land area. Population density in the United States Population density has been tracked for over two hundred years in the United States. Over the last two centuries, the number of people living in the United States per square mile has grown from 4.5 in 1790 to 87.4 in 2010. After examining the data in detail, it becomes clear that a major population increase started around 1870. Population density was roughly 11 at the time and has doubled in the last century. Since then, population density grew by about 16 percent each decade. Population density doubled in 1900, and grew in total by around 800 percent until 2010.

The population density of the United States varies from state to state. The most densely populated state is New Jersey, with 1,208 people per square mile living there. Rhode Island is the second most densely populated state, with slightly over 1,000 inhabitants per square mile. A number of New England states follow at the top of the ranking, making the northeastern region of the United States the most densely populated region of the country.

The least populated U.S. state is the vast territory of Alaska. Only 1.3 inhabitants per square mile reside in the largest state of the U.S.

Compared to other countries around the world, the United States does not rank within the top 50, in terms of population density. Most of the leading countries and territories are city states. However, the U.S. is one of the most populous countries in the world, with a total population of over 327 million inhabitants, as of 2018.

The layer was compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018 Planning Database (PDB), a database that assembles a range of housing, demographic, socioeconomic, and census operational data. The data is from the 2012 – 2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The purpose of the data is for 2020 Census planning purposes.

Source: 2018 PDB, U.S. Census Bureau

Effective Date: June 2018

Last Update: January 2020

Update Cycle: Generally, annually as needed. 2018 PDB is vintage used for 2020 Census planning purposes by Nation and County.

As of 2025, Barbados was the most densely populated country in Latin America and the Caribbean, with approximately 657.16 people per square kilometer. In that same year, Argentina's population density was estimated at approximately 16.75 people per square kilometer.

Whereas the population is expected to decrease somewhat until 2100 in Asia, Europe, and South America, it is predicted to grow significantly in Africa. While there were 1.55 billion inhabitants on the continent at the beginning of 2025, the number of inhabitants is expected to reach 3.81 billion by 2100. In total, the global population is expected to reach nearly 10.18 billion by 2100. Worldwide population In the United States, the total population is expected to steadily increase over the next couple of years. In 2024, Asia held over half of the global population and is expected to have the highest number of people living in urban areas in 2050. Asia is home to the two most populous countries, India and China, both with a population of over one billion people. However, the small country of Monaco had the highest population density worldwide in 2024. Effects of overpopulation Alongside the growing worldwide population, there are negative effects of overpopulation. The increasing population puts a higher pressure on existing resources and contributes to pollution. As the population grows, the demand for food grows, which requires more water, which in turn takes away from the freshwater available. Concurrently, food needs to be transported through different mechanisms, which contributes to air pollution. Not every resource is renewable, meaning the world is using up limited resources that will eventually run out. Furthermore, more species will become extinct which harms the ecosystem and food chain. Overpopulation was considered to be one of the most important environmental issues worldwide in 2020.

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.

This feature data depicts, by census tract, the overcrowding status of owner and renter occupied housing units for the San Francisco Bay Region. The source data used to produce this data layer is Table 10 of the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) data produced by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and released on September 29, 2021. HUD used 2014-2018 American Community Survey (ACS 2018) data to update its 2006-2017 CHAS data. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) made a number of changes to the source data to produce this feature set.

To produce this feature set, the MTC joined the source table to a Census 2010 tract polygon feature set. The joined feature set was then exported to create a feature set representing the average number of persons per room for owner and renter housing units in the San Francisco Bay Region.

The resulting attribute table had all fields from the source table that were not needed deleted and the remaining field names were changed. In addition, MTC added the jurisdiction (incorporated city/town or unincorporated county) name the tract is within. Percent fields were also added for each owner and renter column that provide the source field's percent of all housing units for the tract.

The source table used to develop this feature service was downloaded from https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/cp.html#2006-2017_data

About the CHAS Each year, HUD receives custom tabulations of ACS data from the United States Census Bureau. These data, known as the "CHAS" data, demonstrate the extent of housing problems and housing needs, particularly for low income households. The CHAS data are used by local governments to plan how to spend HUD funds, and may also be used by HUD to distribute grant funds. For more background on the CHAS data, including data documentation and a list of updates and corrections to previously released data.

HUD definitions for overcrowding: ● Overcrowded - More than 1 person per room ● Severely overcrowded - More than 1.5 persons per room

The U.S. Census defines an overcrowded housing unit as one with more than 1 person per room, excluding bathrooms, kitchens, and half-rooms.Overcrowded housing is a marker for affordable housing availability, and it remains a significant challenge throughout Los Angeles County. Living in overcrowded housing units is associated with a wide array of negative health outcomes, including poor mental health and stress, developmental delays in children, and increased risk of communicable disease transmission. Low-income and immigrant communities are often disproportionately impacted by overcrowded housing. Cities and communities can mitigate overcrowded housing by adopting policies that permit the expansion of affordable housing stock and provide assistance to low-income individuals and families in securing safe housing.For more information about the Community Health Profiles Data Initiative, please see the initiative homepage.

This indicator is defined as the percentage of the population living in an overcrowded household (excluding the single-person households). A person is considered as living in an overcrowded household if the household does not have at its disposal a minimum of rooms equal to: - one room for the household; - one room by couple in the household; - one room for each single person aged 18 and more; - one room by pair of single people of the same sex between 12 and 17 years of age; - one room for each single person between 12 and 17 years of age and not included in the previous category; - one room by pair of children under 12 years of age. The indicator is presented by sex. Copyright notice and free re-use of data on: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/about-us/policies/copyright

Sample demographics of the refugee participants in San Diego, CA, sampled between November 2020-December 2020.

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.

Severely overcrowded housing among participants in San Diego, CA from September to November 2020.

Prior to the arrival of European explorers in the Americas in 1492, it is estimated that the population of the continent was around sixty million people. Over the next two centuries, most scholars agree that the indigenous population fell to just ten percent of its pre-colonization level, primarily due to the Old World diseases (namely smallpox) brought to the New World by Europeans and African slaves, as well as through violence and famine.

Distribution

It is thought that the most densely populated region of the Americas was in the fertile Mexican valley, home to over one third of the entire continent, including several Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Aztec empire. While the mid-estimate shows a population of over 21 million before European arrival, one estimate suggests that there were just 730,000 people of indigenous descent in Mexico in 1620, just one hundred years after Cortes' arrival. Estimates also suggest that the Andes, home to the Incas, was the second most-populous region in the Americas, while North America (in this case, the region north of the Rio Grande river) may have been the most sparsely populated region. There is some contention as to the size of the pre-Columbian populations in the Caribbean, as the mass genocides, forced relocation, and pandemics that followed in the early stages of Spanish colonization make it difficult to predict these numbers.

Varying estimates Estimating the indigenous populations of the Americas has proven to be a challenge and point of contention for modern historians. Totals from reputable sources range from 8.4 million people to 112.55 million, and while both of these totals were published in the 1930s and 1960s respectively, their continued citation proves the ambiguity surrounding this topic. European settlers' records from the 15th to 17th centuries have also created challenges, due to their unrealistic population predictions and inaccurate methodologies (for example, many early settlers only counted the number of warriors in each civilization). Nonetheless, most modern historians use figures close to those given in the "Middle estimate" shown here, with similar distributions by region.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed the Social Vulnerability Index to help public health officials and emergency response planners identify and map the communities that will most likely need support before, during, or after a hazardous event. SVI indicates the relative vulnerability of every U.S. Census tract, which are subdivisions of counties for which the Census collects statistical data. SVI ranks the tracts of 15 social factors and further groups them into four related themes. Tracts in the top 10% or at the 90th percentile of values are given a value of 1 to indicate high vulnerability. Tracts below the 90th percentile are given a value of zero. For each tract, we have calculated the number of flags for the fifteen individual variables, the flags for the themes, and the overall estimated percentage of the fifteen individual factors.See complete documentation here: https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/svi/SVI2018Documentation.pdf. For additional questions, contact the SVI Lead at SVI_Coordinator@cdc.gov.

In 2025, India overtook China as the world's most populous country and now has almost 1.46 billion people. China now has the second-largest population in the world, still with just over 1.4 billion inhabitants, however, its population went into decline in 2023. Global population As of 2025, the world's population stands at almost 8.2 billion people and is expected to reach around 10.3 billion people in the 2080s, when it will then go into decline. Due to improved healthcare, sanitation, and general living conditions, the global population continues to increase; mortality rates (particularly among infants and children) are decreasing and the median age of the world population has steadily increased for decades. As for the average life expectancy in industrial and developing countries, the gap has narrowed significantly since the mid-20th century. Asia is the most populous continent on Earth; 11 of the 20 largest countries are located there. It leads the ranking of the global population by continent by far, reporting four times as many inhabitants as Africa. The Demographic Transition The population explosion over the past two centuries is part of a phenomenon known as the demographic transition. Simply put, this transition results from a drastic reduction in mortality, which then leads to a reduction in fertility, and increase in life expectancy; this interim period where death rates are low and birth rates are high is where this population explosion occurs, and population growth can remain high as the population ages. In today's most-developed countries, the transition generally began with industrialization in the 1800s, and growth has now stabilized as birth and mortality rates have re-balanced. Across less-developed countries, the stage of this transition varies; for example, China is at a later stage than India, which accounts for the change in which country is more populous - understanding the demographic transition can help understand the reason why China's population is now going into decline. The least-developed region is Sub-Saharan Africa, where fertility rates remain close to pre-industrial levels in some countries. As these countries transition, they will undergo significant rates of population growth.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed the Social Vulnerability Index to help public health officials and emergency response planners identify and map the communities that will most likely need support before, during, or after a hazardous event. SVI indicates the relative vulnerability of every U.S. Census tract, which are subdivisions of counties for which the Census collects statistical data. SVI ranks the tracts of 15 social factors and further groups them into four related themes. Tracts in the top 10% or at the 90th percentile of values are given a value of 1 to indicate high vulnerability. Tracts below the 90th percentile are given a value of zero. For each tract, we have calculated the number of flags for the fifteen individual variables, the flags for the themes, and the overall estimated percentage of the fifteen individual factors.See complete documentation here: https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/svi/SVI2018Documentation.pdf. For additional questions, contact the SVI Lead at SVI_Coordinator@cdc.gov.

There are approximately 8.16 billion people living in the world today, a figure that shows a dramatic increase since the beginning of the Common Era. Since the 1970s, the global population has also more than doubled in size. It is estimated that the world's population will reach and surpass 10 billion people by 2060 and plateau at around 10.3 billion in the 2080s, before it then begins to fall. Asia When it comes to number of inhabitants per continent, Asia is the most populous continent in the world by a significant margin, with roughly 60 percent of the world's population living there. Similar to other global regions, a quarter of inhabitants in Asia are under 15 years of age. The most populous nations in the world are India and China respectively; each inhabit more than three times the amount of people than the third-ranked United States. 10 of the 20 most populous countries in the world are found in Asia. Africa Interestingly, the top 20 countries with highest population growth rate are mainly countries in Africa. This is due to the present stage of Sub-Saharan Africa's demographic transition, where mortality rates are falling significantly, although fertility rates are yet to drop and match this. As much of Asia is nearing the end of its demographic transition, population growth is predicted to be much slower in this century than in the previous; in contrast, Africa's population is expected to reach almost four billion by the year 2100. Unlike demographic transitions in other continents, Africa's population development is being influenced by climate change on a scale unseen by most other global regions. Rising temperatures are exacerbating challenges such as poor sanitation, lack of infrastructure, and political instability, which have historically hindered societal progress. It remains to be seen how Africa and the world at large adapts to this crisis as it continues to cause drought, desertification, natural disasters, and climate migration across the region.

As of 2023, the top five most densely populated cities in Latin America and the Caribbean were in Colombia. The capital, Bogotá, ranked first with over ****** inhabitants per square kilometer.

This statistic shows the total population of Saudi Arabia from 2020 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. In 2024, Saudi Arabia's total population amounted to 35.3 million inhabitants. Population of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, the second largest Arab state, is a nation in development. As a result of the economic stability, gross domestic product (GDP) has grown by about 520 billion U.S. dollars over the past decade. This comes as a result of Saudi Arabia’s positive trade balance and the fact that Saudi Arabia exports about 2.5 times more goods than it imports. Therefore, it is no surprise that Saudi Arabia has constantly had a very high GDP growth in the past decade. In a developing country, there is a tendency for the population to move to more urban cities where the employment rates are higher. The degree of urbanization in Saudi Arabia has grown by around 2 percent from 2002 to 2012. Some of the biggest cities in Saudi Arabia have witnessed the urbanization changes first-hand. The capital of Saudi Arabia and the biggest city, Ar-Riyad, is home to about five million inhabitants. However, the high number of illegal immigrants in Saudi Arabia also accounts for the total population. More awareness to health risks and better living conditions have increased the life expectancy at birth in Saudi Arabia by about 3 years in the last decade. With a rapidly growing total population, it has grown by around 8 million inhabitants over the past decade, the government has set some rules to avoid overcrowding and overpopulation. The fertility rate in Saudi has steadily decreased over the past years in order to attempt to control the rapidly growing population.