Tag Archives: Midwest

Midwest Cities Historic Population and Density

Posted on by
Reply



Midwest cities historic population and density

I’ve compared Columbus to peer cities nationally in terms of density and population, but I’ve never made a Midwest cities historic population and density comparison overall. For the following, I used the top 15 largest Midwest cities as of 2014.

Red indicates a fallen ranking while blue indicates a rise. Black is no change.

Historic Population Rankings
1840
1. Cincinnati: 46,338
2. St. Louis: 16,469
3. Detroit: 9,102
4. Cleveland: 6,071
5. Columbus: 6,048
6. Chicago: 4,470
7. Indianapolis: 2,695
8. Milwaukee: 1,700
9. Toledo: 1,222
10. Kansas City: Not incorporated.
11. Lincoln: Not incorporated.
12. Minneapolis: Not incorporated.
13. Omaha: Not incorporated.
14. St. Paul: Not incorporated.
15. Wichita: Not incorporated.

1850
1. Cincinnati: 115,435
2. St. Louis: 77,860
3. Chicago: 29,963
4. Detroit: 21,019
5. Milwaukee: 20,061
6. Columbus: 17,882
7. Cleveland: 17,034
8. Indianapolis: 8,091
9. Toledo: 3,829
10. St. Paul: 1,112
11. Kansas City: Not incorporated.
12. Lincoln: Not incorporated.
13. Minneapolis: Not incorporated.
14. Omaha: Not incorporated.
15. Wichita: Not incorporated.

1860
1. Cincinnati: 161,044
2. St. Louis: 160,773
3. Chicago: 112,172
4. Detroit: 45,619
5. Milwaukee: 45,246
6. Cleveland: 43,417
7. Indianapolis: 18,611
8. Columbus: 18,554
9. Toledo: 13,768
10. St. Paul: 10,401
11. Minneapolis: 5,809
12. Kansas City: 4,418
13. Omaha: 1,883
14. Lincoln: Not incorporated.
15. Wichita: Not incorporated.

1870
1. St. Louis: 310,864
2. Chicago: 298,977
3. Cincinnati: 216,239
4. Cleveland: 92,829
5. Detroit: 79,577
6. Milwaukee: 71,440
7. Indianapolis: 48,244
8. Kansas City: 32,260
9. Toledo: 31,584
10. Columbus: 31,274
11. St. Paul: 20,030
12. Omaha: 16,083
13. Minneapolis: 13,066
14. Lincoln: 2,441
15. Wichita: 689

1880
1. Chicago: 503,185
2. St. Louis: 350,518
3. Cincinnati: 255,139
4. Cleveland: 160,146
5. Detroit: 116,340
6. Milwaukee: 115,587
7. Indianapolis: 75,056
8. Kansas City: 55,785
9. Columbus: 51,647
10. Toledo: 50,137
11. Minneapolis: 46,887
12. St. Paul: 41,473
13. Omaha: 30,518
14. Lincoln: 13,003
15. Wichita: 4,911

1890
1. Chicago: 1,099,850
2. St. Louis: 451,770
3. Cincinnati: 296,908
4. Cleveland: 261,353
5. Detroit: 205,877
6. Milwaukee: 204,468
7. Minneapolis: 164,738
8. Omaha: 140,452
9. St. Paul: 133,156
10. Kansas City: 132,716
11. Indianapolis: 105,436
12. Columbus: 88,150
13. Toledo: 81,434
14. Lincoln: 55,164
15. Wichita: 23,853

1900
1. Chicago: 1,698,575
2. St. Louis: 575,238
3. Cleveland: 381,768
4. Cincinnati: 325,902
5. Detroit: 285,704
6. Milwaukee: 285,315
7. Minneapolis: 202,718
8. Indianapolis: 169,164
9. Kansas City: 163,752
10. St. Paul: 163,065
11. Toledo: 131,822
12. Columbus: 125,560
13. Omaha: 102,555
14. Lincoln: 40,169
15. Wichita: 24,671

1910
1. Chicago: 2,185,283
2. St. Louis: 687,029
3. Cleveland: 560,663
4. Detroit: 465,766
5. Milwaukee: 373,857
6. Cincinnati: 363,591
7. Minneapolis: 301,408
8. Kansas City: 248,381
9. Indianapolis: 233,650
10. St. Paul: 214,744
11. Columbus: 181,511
12. Toledo: 168,497
13. Omaha: 124,096
14. Wichita: 52,450
15. Lincoln: 43,973

1920
1. Chicago: 2,701,705
2. Detroit: 993,678
3. Cleveland: 796,841
4. St. Louis: 772,897
5. Milwaukee: 457,147
6. Cincinnati: 401,247
7. Minneapolis: 380,582
8. Kansas City: 324,410
9. Indianapolis: 314,194
10. Toledo: 243,164
11. Columbus: 237,031
12. St. Paul: 234,698
13. Omaha: 191,061
14. Wichita: 72,217
15. Lincoln: 54,948

1930
1. Chicago: 3,376,438
2. Detroit: 1,568,662
3. Cleveland: 900,429
4. St. Louis: 821,960
5. Milwaukee: 578,249
6. Minneapolis: 464,356
7. Cincinnati: 451,160
8. Kansas City: 399,746
9. Indianapolis: 364,161
10. Toledo: 290,718
11. Columbus: 290,564
12. St. Paul: 271,606
13. Omaha: 214,006
14. Wichita: 111,110
15. Lincoln: 75,933

1940
1. Chicago: 3,396,808
2. Detroit: 1,623,452
3. Cleveland: 878,336
4. St. Louis: 816,048
5. Milwaukee: 587,472
6. Minneapolis: 492,370
7. Cincinnati: 455,610
8. Kansas City: 400,178
9. Indianapolis: 386,972
10. Columbus: 306,087
11. St. Paul: 287,736
12. Toledo: 282,349
13. Omaha: 223,844
14. Wichita: 114,966
15. Lincoln: 81,984

1950
1. Chicago: 3,620,962
2. Detroit: 1,849,568
3. Cleveland: 914,808
4. St. Louis: 856,796
5. Milwaukee: 637,392
6. Minneapolis: 521,718
7. Cincinnati: 503,998
8. Kansas City: 456,622
9. Indianapolis: 427,173
10. Columbus: 375,901
11. St. Paul: 311,349
12. Toledo: 303,616
13. Omaha: 251,117
14. Wichita: 168,279
15. Lincoln: 98,884

1960
1. Chicago: 3,550,404
2. Detroit: 1,670,144
3. Cleveland: 876,050
4. St. Louis: 750,026
5. Milwaukee: 741,324
6. Cincinnati: 502,550
7. Minneapolis: 482,872
8. Indianapolis: 476,258
9. Kansas City: 475,539
10. Columbus: 471,316
11. Toledo: 318,003
12. St. Paul: 313,411
13. Omaha: 301,598
14. Wichita: 254,698
15. Lincoln: 128,521

1970
1. Chicago: 3,366,957
2. Detroit: 1,514,063
3. Cleveland: 750,903
4. Indianapolis: 744,624
5. Milwaukee: 717,099
6. St. Louis: 622,236
7. Columbus: 539,677
8. Kansas City: 507,087
9. Cincinnati: 452,525
10. Minneapolis: 434,400
11. Toledo: 383,818
12. Omaha: 346,929
13. St. Paul: 309,980
14. Wichita: 276,554
15. Lincoln: 149,518

1980
1. Chicago: 3,005,072
2. Detroit: 1,203,368
3. Indianapolis: 700,807
4. Milwaukee: 636,212
5. Cleveland: 573,822
6. Columbus: 564,871
7. St. Louis: 452,801
8. Kansas City: 448,159
9. Cincinnati: 385,460
10. Minneapolis: 370,951
11. Toledo: 354,635
12. Omaha: 313,939
13. Wichita: 279,272
14. St. Paul: 270,230
15. Lincoln: 171,932

1990
1. Chicago: 2,783,726
2. Detroit: 1,027,974
3. Indianapolis: 731,327
4. Columbus: 632,910
5. Milwaukee: 628,088
6. Cleveland: 505,616
7. Kansas City: 435,146
8. St. Louis: 396,685
9. Minneapolis: 368,383
10. Cincinnati: 364,040
11. Omaha: 335,795
12. Toledo: 332,943
13. Wichita: 304,011
14. St. Paul: 272,235
15. Lincoln: 191,972

2000
1. Chicago: 2,896,016
2. Detroit: 951,270
3. Indianapolis: 781,926
4. Columbus: 711,470
5. Milwaukee: 596,974
6. Cleveland: 478,403
7. Kansas City: 441,545
8. Omaha: 390,007
9. Minneapolis: 382,618
10. St. Louis: 348,189
11. Wichita: 344,284
12. Cincinnati: 331,285
13. Toledo: 313,619
14. St. Paul: 287,151
15. Lincoln: 225,581

2010
1. Chicago: 2,695,598
2. Indianapolis: 829,445
3. Columbus: 787,033
4. Detroit: 713,777
5. Milwaukee: 594,833
6. Kansas City: 459,787
7. Omaha: 408,958
8. Cleveland: 396,815
9. Minneapolis: 382,578
10. Wichita: 382,368
11. St. Louis: 319,294
12. Cincinnati: 296,945
13. Toledo: 287,208
14. St. Paul: 285,068
15. Lincoln: 258,379

2014
1. Chicago: 2,722,389
2. Indianapolis: 848,788
3. Columbus: 835,957
4. Detroit: 680,250
5. Milwaukee: 599,642
6. Kansas City: 470,800
7. Omaha: 446,559
8. Minneapolis: 407,207
9. Cleveland: 389,521
10. Wichita: 388,413
11. St. Louis: 317,419
12. Cincinnati: 298,165
13. St. Paul: 297,640
14. Toledo: 281,031
15. Lincoln: 272,996

2020 Projection based on recent estimates.
1. Chicago: 2,736,032
2. Columbus: 905,875
3. Indianapolis: 873,774
4. Detroit: 646,682
5. Milwaukee: 606,730
6. Kansas City: 494,731
7. Omaha: 460,487
8. Minneapolis: 445,321
9. Wichita: 395,751
10. Cleveland: 380,149
11. St. Louis: 308,348
12. St. Paul: 306,448
13. Cincinnati: 302,288
14. Lincoln: 297,136
15. Toledo: 270,837

Columbus seems poised to take the #2 spot from Indianapolis around or just after 2020. Also, 11 of 15 would’ve seen growth 2010-2020. Cleveland, Toledo, St. Louis and Detroit would be the only cities that still lost.

2014 Density
1. Chicago: 11,634.1
2. Minneapolis: 6,972.7
3. Milwaukee: 6,188.3
4. St. Paul: 5,296.1
5. St. Louis: 4,809.4
6. Detroit: 4,760.3
7. Cleveland: 4,721.5
8. Omaha: 3,755.8
9. Columbus: 3,747.0
10. Cincinnati: 3,745.8
11. Lincoln: 3,620.6
12. Toledo: 3,246.1
13. Wichita: 2,374.2
14. Indianapolis: 2,306.5
15. Kansas City: 1,475.9

2020 Projected density using recent estimates.
1. Chicago: 11,692.4
2. Minneapolis: 7,625.4
3. Milwaukee: 6,261.4
4. St. Paul: 5,452.8
5. St. Louis: 4,671.9
6. Cleveland: 4,607.9
7. Detroit: 4,525.4
8. Columbus: 4,060.4
9. Lincoln: 3,940.8
10. Omaha: 3,872.9
11. Cincinnati: 3,797.6
12. Toledo: 3,220.4
13. Wichita: 2,419.0
14. Indianapolis: 2,374.4
15. Kansas City: 1,550.9

The Census is a great source if you are interested in seeing other cities that are not listed above.



Metro Population by Distance from Downtown

Posted on by
Reply




Metro population by distance from downtown

One of the more interesting things the Census measures is the population from “City Hall”, or basically the metro population by distance from downtown. The metric measure population at every mile out from the center of each city’s downtown area. Since city boundaries come in all different sizes, this is a good way to compare urban populations.

I looked at the 15 largest Midwest metros for these numbers.

First, here is a breakdown of aggregate population at each mile marker in 2010. Aggregate means that with each mile added, the population within all previous miles are added together.

Mile 0
1. Chicago: 63,120
2. Minneapolis: 31,036
3. Milwaukee: 21,587
4. Cincinnati: 17,681
5. St. Louis: 17,359
6. Grand Rapids: 16,099
7. Omaha: 15,582
8. Indianapolis: 14,058
9. Kansas City: 13,709
10. Akron: 12,479
11. Cleveland: 9,471
12. Dayton: 9,182
13. Detroit: 8,709
14. Toledo: 8,304
15. Columbus: 7,416

This is a pretty bad showing in this list. In 2010, Columbus had the lowest downtown population, or population at Mile 0, of any of the largest 15 Midwest metros.

Mile 1
1. Chicago: 181,714
2. Minneapolis: 123,526
3. Milwaukee: 86,261
4. Grand Rapids: 75,613
5. Cincinnati: 65,264
6. Omaha: 56,244
7. Toledo: 55,739
8. Akron: 53,715
9. Columbus: 49,667
10. Indianapolis: 45,079
11. Dayton: 41,053
12. St. Louis: 40,184
13. Kansas City: 32,900
14. Detroit: 32,810
15. Cleveland: 32,193

By Mile 1, Columbus starts to move up rapidly, however.

Mile 2
1. Chicago: 318,522
2. Minneapolis: 228,927
3. Milwaukee: 208,776
4. Cincinnati: 138,235
5. Columbus: 134,826
6. Grand Rapids: 127,535
7. Akron: 122,395
8. Omaha: 113,044
9. Indianapolis: 102,412
10. Dayton: 101,817
11. Toledo: 94,058
12. St. Louis: 94,038
13. Kansas City: 77,388
14. Cleveland: 64,721
15. Detroit: 64,046

Mile 3
1. Chicago: 508,949
2. Minneapolis: 325,198
3. Milwaukee: 319,111
4. Columbus: 221,466
5. Cincinnati: 205,624
6. Grand Rapids: 184,887
7. Akron: 177,674
8. Omaha: 168,724
9. Toledo: 166,569
10. Indianapolis: 166,266
11. St. Louis: 160,117
12. Kansas City: 155,802
13. Dayton: 152,789
14. Cleveland: 139,945
15. Detroit: 109,104

Mile 4
1. Chicago: 764,400
2. Minneapolis: 448,499
3. Milwaukee: 438,629
4. Cincinnati: 315,665
5. Columbus: 314,557
6. Omaha: 253,723
7. St. Louis: 251,432
8. Grand Rapids: 247,473
9. Indianapolis: 240,970
10. Akron: 227,825
11. Cleveland: 227,309
12. Kansas City: 216,483
13. Dayton: 214,614
14. Toledo: 213,529
15. Detroit: 198,341

Mile 5
1. Chicago: 1,067,434
2. Minneapolis: 585,588
3. Milwaukee: 552,064
4. Columbus: 404,642
5. Cincinnati: 400,254
6. Cleveland: 361,475
7. St. Louis: 336,573
8. Indianapolis: 320,919
9. Omaha: 311,189
10. Grand Rapids: 305,307
11. Akron: 296,787
12. Detroit: 282,986
13. Toledo: 271,187
14. Kansas City: 269,936
15. Dayton: 262,069

So while Columbus’ downtown is down at the bottom in this list to start, it ends up being a top 5 within just a few miles. Clearly, though, the city needs to do better at getting people in the center.

What about further out? Let’s keep going.

Mile 10
1. Chicago: 2,763,025
2. Minneapolis: 1,312,640
3. Detroit: 1,053,920
4. Columbus: 993,957
5. Milwaukee: 944,415
6. Cleveland: 918,511
7. Indianapolis: 871,050
8. St. Louis: 864,336
9. Cincinnati: 862,932
10. Kansas City: 797,442
11. Omaha: 588,484
12. Dayton: 586,178
13. Akron: 502,710
14. Grand Rapids: 482,599
15. Toledo: 454,859

Mile 20
1. Chicago: 4,738,903
2. Detroit: 2,663,489
3. Minneapolis: 2,542,565
4. St. Louis: 1,878,365
5. Kansas City: 1,618,823
6. Cincinnati: 1,592,905
7. Cleveland: 1,549,799
8. Indianapolis: 1,511,675
9. Columbus: 1,432,067
10. Milwaukee: 1,317,062
11. Omaha: 788,498
12. Dayton: 757,623
13. Akron: 673,654
14. Grand Rapids: 602,220
15. Toledo: 558,219

Columbus seems to hold its own from Mile 2 through about Mile 15 or 16, and then begins to fall back as full metro populations begin to take shape.

So now we know the exact populations by distance, but what about how those are changing over time? Here are the same miles and their total change from 2000 to 2010.

Aggregate Change 2000-2010
By Mile 1
1. Chicago: 48,288
2. Minneapolis: 7,969
3. St. Louis: 5,881
4. Cleveland: 3,174
5. Milwaukee: 2,250
6. Kansas City: 1,009
7. Omaha: -53
8. Columbus: -1,049
9. Detroit: -3,601
10. Indianapolis: -4,739
11. Grand Rapids: -5,236
12. Cincinnati: -6,112
13. Akron: -8,916
14. Toledo: -10,118
15. Dayton: -10,165

By Mile 2
1. Chicago: 31,824
2. Minneapolis: 3,462
3. Omaha: 408
4. St. Louis: -1,523
5. Milwaukee: -2,399
6. Cleveland: -3,388
7. Kansas City: -4,807
8. Columbus: -6,004
9. Grand Rapids: -9,279
10. Detroit: -11,019
11. Indianapolis: -15,532
12. Cincinnati: -15,749
13. Akron: -15,874
14. Toledo: -16,771
15. Dayton: -20,826

By Mile 3
1. Chicago: 13,414
2. Minneapolis: 257
3. Omaha: -28
4. Milwaukee: -4,550
5. Columbus: -8,509
6. Grand Rapids: -8,818
7. St. Louis: -12,153
8. Kansas City: -14,528
9. Akron: -18,107
10. Toledo: -21,469
11. Cleveland: -23,287
12. Indianapolis: -23,973
13. Cincinnati: -24,548
14. Dayton: -27,652
15. Detroit: -29,905

By Mile 4
1. Minneapolis: 2,381
2. Omaha: 1,376
3. Milwaukee: -4,943
4. Grand Rapids: -8,612
5. Columbus: -9,650
6. Chicago: -12,130
7. Kansas City: -17,813
8. Akron: -18,533
9. Toledo: -22,039
10. St. Louis: -22,415
11. Indianapolis: -27,912
12. Dayton: -31,173
13. Cincinnati: -32,342
14. Cleveland: -41,948
15. Detroit: -61,209

By Mile 5
1. Omaha: 1,800
2. Minneapolis: 1,798
3. Milwaukee: -4,090
4. Columbus: -7,924
5. Grand Rapids: -8,112
6. Akron: -19,405
7. Kansas City: -21,986
8. Toledo: -26,094
9. Indianapolis: -28,401
10. Dayton: -33,066
11. St. Louis: 35,038
12. Cincinnati: -38,698
13. Chicago: -48,898
14. Cleveland: -70,067
15. Detroit: -89,973

By Mile 10
1. Columbus: 59,873
2. Indianapolis: 37,721
3. Omaha: 25,330
4. Grand Rapids: 10,284
5. Minneapolis: -1,544
6. Milwaukee: -2,369
7. Akron: -6,207
8. Dayton: -17,223
9. Kansas City: -19,048
10. Toledo: -21,636
11. Cincinnati: -39,767
12. St. Louis: -58,549
13. Cleveland: -120,862
14. Chicago: -172,571
15. Detroit: -239,616

By Mile 20
1. Indianapolis: 213,270
2. Columbus: 183,014
3. Kansas City: 144,634
4. Minneapolis: 141,652
5. Omaha: 97,813
6. Cincinnati: 46,813
7. Milwaukee: 27,876
8. Grand Rapids: 24,505
9. Akron: 8,625
10. Dayton: -7,484
11. Toledo: -9,112
12. St. Louis: -21,917
13. Cleveland: -88,522
14. Chicago: -215,802
15. Detroit: -291,258

Metro Area Demographics provides a greater picture of the Columbus metro’s population and demographic data.