This Is the Smallest City in America

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Apr 1, 5:00PM EDT

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This Is the Smallest City in America — © DenisTangneyJr / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

The United States recently has gone through one of the slowest population growth periods on record. From the 2010 census through the 2020 census, the number of U.S. residents rose only 7.4%, the second lowest rate in American history. Illinois, Mississippi, and West Virginia had fewer residents in 2020 than they did in 2010. Some of this very modest growth rate was triggered by COVID-19 deaths. Additionally, immigration rates were extremely low.

Though its population grew during COVID-19, the smallest city in America, as defined by how metropolitan statistical areas are measured, is Carson City, Nevada.

The decade-long slow growth continues. Approximately 73% of U.S. counties (2,297) posted declines in population from July 2020 through July 2021, according to the new U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2021 estimates of population released late March.

Aside from county data, the release included 384 metropolitan statistical areas and 543 micropolitan statistical areas. Among MSAs, the researchers noted that 213 of the 384 metro areas experienced natural population decrease — more deaths than births — in 2021. The highest levels were in Pittsburgh (-10,838); Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida (-9,291); and North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida (-6,643). (And these are the 16 states where the population shrank since the pandemic started.)

MSAs are determined by a definition created by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Each has at least one urban area and includes the surrounding population. An MSA must have a minimum population of 50,000. Essentially, MSAs are America’s cities.

To determine the smallest cities in America, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on population from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population and Housing Unit Estimates program. MSAs were ranked based on population estimates for July 2021. Population estimates for July 2020 also came from the same source.

A fair number of the smaller MSAs posted declines in population in the past year. The populations of Danville, Illinois, and Enid, Oklahoma, dropped more than 1%.

The smallest MSA, Carson City, had a July 2021 population of 58,993. Compared to the July 2020 population of 58,677, that is an increase of 0.54%. Carson City is located on Nevada’s border with California, just south of Reno. (Find out if Carson City is among America’s 50 best cities to live.)

Click here to see this is the smallest city in America

25. Dubuque, IA
> Population, July 2021: 98,718
> Population, July 2020: 99,229
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: -0.51%

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Victoria, Texas (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Ken Luпd

24. Victoria, TX
> Population, July 2021: 98,127
> Population, July 2020: 98,241
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: -0.12%

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Downtown Street - Cape Girard... by Paul Sableman

Downtown Street - Cape Girard... (CC BY 2.0) by Paul Sableman

23. Cape Girardeau, MO-IL
> Population, July 2021: 97,699
> Population, July 2020: 97,481
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.22%

Holt Arena, Idaho State Univer... by Ken Luпd

Holt Arena, Idaho State Univer... (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Ken Luпd

22. Pocatello, ID
> Population, July 2021: 96,213
> Population, July 2020: 95,056
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +1.22%

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Corvallis, Oregon (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Doug Kerr

21. Corvallis, OR
> Population, July 2021: 96,017
> Population, July 2020: 95,167
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.89%

20. Ocean City, NJ
> Population, July 2021: 95,661
> Population, July 2020: 95,077
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.61%

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19. Fairbanks, AK
> Population, July 2021: 95,593
> Population, July 2020: 95,286
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.32%

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18. Cumberland, MD-WV
> Population, July 2021: 94,586
> Population, July 2020: 94,824
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: -0.25%

17. Parkersburg-Vienna, WV
> Population, July 2021: 88,687
> Population, July 2020: 89,179
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: -0.55%

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Downtown Grants Pass, Oregon by Ken Luпd

Downtown Grants Pass, Oregon (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Ken Luпd

16. Grants Pass, OR
> Population, July 2021: 88,346
> Population, July 2020: 88,105
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.27%

Pine Bluff AR - main street and courthouse by Roland Klose

Pine Bluff AR - main street and courthouse (CC BY 2.0) by Roland Klose

15. Pine Bluff, AR
> Population, July 2021: 86,412
> Population, July 2020: 87,234
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: -0.94%

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14. Great Falls, MT
> Population, July 2021: 84,511
> Population, July 2020: 84,328
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.22%

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13. Kokomo, IN
> Population, July 2021: 83,687
> Population, July 2020: 83,619
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.08%

12. Midland, MI
> Population, July 2021: 83,457
> Population, July 2020: 83,476
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: -0.02%

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11. Elmira, NY
> Population, July 2021: 83,045
> Population, July 2020: 83,882
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: -1.00%

Pennsylvania (CC BY-SA 2.0) by GPA Photo Archive

10. Bloomsburg-Berwick, PA
> Population, July 2021: 82,959
> Population, July 2020: 82,782
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.21%

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Hinesville city hall (CC BY-SA 4.0) by Michael Rivera

9. Hinesville, GA
> Population, July 2021: 82,863
> Population, July 2020: 81,507
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +1.66%

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8. Columbus, IN
> Population, July 2021: 82,475
> Population, July 2020: 82,157
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.39%

7. Casper, WY
> Population, July 2021: 79,555
> Population, July 2020: 80,229
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: -0.84%

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6. Grand Island, NE
> Population, July 2021: 76,175
> Population, July 2020: 76,885
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: -0.92%

20200608 43 Theater, Danville,... by David Wilson

20200608 43 Theater, Danville,... (CC BY 2.0) by David Wilson

5. Danville, IL
> Population, July 2021: 73,095
> Population, July 2020: 73,883
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: -1.07%

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4. Lewiston, ID-WA
> Population, July 2021: 64,851
> Population, July 2020: 64,378
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.73%

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3. Walla Walla, WA
> Population, July 2021: 62,682
> Population, July 2020: 62,574
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.17%

2. Enid, OK
> Population, July 2021: 61,926
> Population, July 2020: 62,629
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: -1.12%

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1. Carson City, NV
> Population, July 2021: 58,993
> Population, July 2020: 58,677
> Population change, 2020 to 2021: +0.54%

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.