The Columbus Metropolitan Area resides within a group of metros between 1.5 and 2.5 million people. I wanted to take a look at population densities between that group of metros to see how different they really are and where Columbus might fall within them.
Metro Area Population in 2011 and 2012 by Rank
2011 ———————————2012
1. Pittsburgh: 2,359,746 — 1. Pittsburgh: 2,360,733
2. Portland, OR: 2,262,605 — 2. Charlotte: 2,296,569
3. San Antonio: 2,194,927 — 3. Portland, OR: 2,289,800
4. Sacramento: 2,176,235 — 4. San Antonio: 2,234,003
5. Orlando: 2,171,360 — 5. Orlando: 2,223,674
6. Cincinnati: 2,138,038 — 6. Sacramento: 2,196,482
7. Cleveland: 2,068,283 — 7. Cincinnati: 2,128,603
8. Kansas City: 2,052,676 — 8. Cleveland: 2,063,535
9. Las Vegas: 1,969,975 — 9. Kansas City: 2,038,724
10. San Jose, CA: 1,865,450 — 10. Las Vegas: 2,000,759
11. Columbus: 1,858,464 — 11. Columbus: 1,944,002
12. Charlotte: 1,795,472 — 12. Indianapolis: 1,928,982
13. Austin: 1,783,519 — 13. San Jose: 1,894,388
14. Indianapolis: 1,778,568 — 14. Austin: 1,834,303
15. Virginia Beach: 1,679,894 — 15. Nashville: 1,726,693
16. Nashville: 1,617,142 — 16. Virginia Beach: 1,699,925
17. Providence, RI: 1,600,224 — 17. Providence: 1,601,374
18. Milwaukee: 1,562,216 — 18. Milwaukee: 1,566,981
As you can see, this is a pretty diverse group, from the Northeast, Midwest, Sun Belt and West Coast.
Metro Area Size in Square Miles in 2011 and 2012 by Rank
2011 ————————— 2012
1. Las Vegas: 8,091 — 1. Las Vegas: 8,091
2. Kansas City: 7,951 — 2. San Antonio: 7,387
3. San Antonio: 7,387 — 3. Kansas City: 7,374
4. Sacramento: 6,936 — 4. Sacramento: 6,936
5. Portland, Or: 6,817 — 5. Portland, OR: 6,817
6. Nasvhille: 5,763 — 6. Nashville: 6,379
7. Pittsburgh: 5,706 — 7. Pittsburgh: 5,706
8. Cincinnati: 4,394 — 8. Charlotte: 5,180
9. Austin: 4,280 — 9. Columbus: 4,850
10. Columbus: 3,967 — 10. Cincinnati: 4,394
11. Indianapolis: 3,888 — 11. Indianapolis: 4,341
12. Orlando: 3,491 — 12. Austin: 4,280
13. Virginia Beach: 2,647 — 13, Orlando: 3,491
14. Charlotte: 2,611 — 14. San Jose: 2,695
15. Cleveland: 1,997— 15. Virginia Beach: 2,647
16. Milwaukee: 1,823 — 16. Cleveland: 1,997
17. Providence: 1,636— 17. Milwaukee: 1,823
18. San Jose: 1,304 — 18. Providence: 1,636
Metro Area Population Density Per Square Mile in 2011 and 2012 by Rank
2011 —————————– 2012
1. San Jose: 1,430.6 — 1. Cleveland: 1,033.3
2. Cleveland: 1,035.7 — 2. Providence: 978.8
3. Providence: 978.1 — 3. Milwaukee: 859.6
4. Milwaukee: 856.9 — 4. San Jose: 702.9
5. Charlotte: 687.7 — 5. Virginia Beach: 642.2
6. Virginia Beach: 634.6 — 6. Orlando: 637.0
7. Orlando: 622.0 — 7. Cincinnati: 484.4
8. Cincinnati: 486.6 — 8. Indianapolis: 444.4
9. Columbus: 468.5 — 9. Charlotte: 443.4
10. Indianapolis: 457.5 — 10. Austin: 428.6
11. Austin: 416.7 — 11. Pittsburgh: 413.7
12. Pittsburgh: 413.6 — 12. Columbus: 400.8
13. Portland, OR: 331.9 — 13. Portland: 335.9
14. Sacramento: 313.8 — 14. Sacramento: 316.7
15. San Antonio: 297.1 — 15. San Antonio: 302.4
16. Nashville: 280.6 — 16. Kansas City: 276.5
17. Kansas City: 258.2 — 17. Nashville: 270.7
18. Las Vegas: 243.5 — 18. Las Vegas: 247.3
Higher metro population doesn’t necessarily equate to higher density. The smaller metros tend to have higher densities. Columbus is middle of the pack.
Core County Population in 2011 and 2012 by Rank
2011 —————————————— 2012
1. Clark (Las Vegas): 1,969,975 — 1. Clark (Las Vegas): 2,000,759
2. Santa Clara (San Jose): 1,809,378 — 2. Santa Clara (San Jose): 1,837,504
3. Bexar (San Antonio): 1,756,153 — 3. Bexar (San Antonio) 1,785,704
4. Sacramento (Sacramento): 1,436,105 — 4. Sacramento (Sacramento): 1,450,121
5. Cuyahoga (Cleveland): 1,270,294 — 5. Cuyahoga (Cleveland): 1,265,111
6. Allegheny (Pittsburgh): 1,227,066 — 6. Allegheny (Pittsburgh): 1,229,338
7. Franklin (Columbus): 1,178,799 — 7. Orange (Orlando): 1,202,234
8. Orange (Orlando): 1,169,107 — 8. Franklin: (Columbus): 1,195,338
9. Travis (Austin): 1,063,130 — 9. Travis (Austin): 1,095,584
10. Milwaukee (Milwaukee): 952,532 — 10. Mecklenburg (Charlotte): 969,031
11. Mecklenburg (Charlotte): 944,373 — 11. Milwaukee (Milwaukee): 955,205
12. Marion (Indianapolis): 911,296 — 12. Marion (Indianapolis): 918,977
13. Hamilton (Cincinnati): 800,362 — 13. Hamilton (Cincinnati): 802,038
14. Multnomah (Portland): 748,031 — 14. Multnomah (Portland): 759,256
15. Jackson (Kansas City): 676,360 — 15. Jackson (Kansas City): 677,377
16. Davidson (Nashville): 635,475 — 16. Davidson (Nashville): 648,295
17. Providence (Providence): 626,709 — 17. Providence (Providence): 628,323
18. Virginia Beach (No County): 442,707 — 18. Virginia Beach (No County): 447,021
Core County Area Size in Square Miles in 2011 by Rank
Clark (Las Vegas): 8,091
Santa Clara (San Jose): 1,304
Bexar (San Antonio): 1,257
Travis (Austin): 1,022
Orange (Orlando): 1,004
Sacramento (Sacramento): 995
Allegheny (Pittsburgh): 745
Jackson (Kansas City): 616
Mecklenburg (Charlotte): 546
Franklin (Columbus): 544
Davidson (Nashville): 526
Multnomah (Portland): 466
Cuyahoga (Cleveland): 457
Providence (Providence): 436
Hamilton (Cincinnati): 413
Marion (Indianapolis): 403
Virginia Beach (No County): 248
Milwaukee (Milwaukee): 242
Core County Population Density Per Square Mile in 2011 and 2012 by Rank
2011 ——————————————— 2012
1. Milwaukee (Milwaukee): 3,936.1 — 1. Milwaukee: 3,947.1
2. Cuyahoga (Cleveland): 2,779.6 — 2. Cuyahoga: 2,768.3
3. Marion (Indianapolis): 2,261.3 — 3. Marion: 2,280.3
4. Franklin (Columbus): 2,166.9 — 4. Franklin: 2,197.7
5. Hamilton (Cincinnati): 1,937.9 — 5. Hamilton: 1,942.0
6. Virginia Beach (No County): 1,785.1 — 6. Virginia Beach: 1,802.5
7. Mecklenburg (Charlotte): 1,729.6 — 7. Mecklenburg: 1,774.8
8. Allegheny (Pittsburgh): 1,647.1 — 8. Allegheny: 1,650.1
9. Multnomah (Portland: 1,605.2 — 9. Multnomah: 1,629.3
10. Sacramento (Sacramento): 1,443.3 — 10. Sacramento: 1,457.4
11. Providence (Providence): 1,437.4 — 11. Providence: 1,441.1
12. Bexar (San Antonio): 1,397.1 — 12. Bexar: 1,420.6
13. Santa Clara (San Jose): 1,387.6 — 13. Santa Clara: 1,409.1
14. Davidson (Nashville): 1,208.1 — 14. Davidson: 1,232.5
15. Orange (Orlando): 1,164.4 — 15. Orange: 1,197.4
16. Jackson (Kansas City): 1,098.0 — 16. Jackson: 1,099.6
17. Travis (Austin): 1,040.2 — 17. Travis: 1,072.0
18. Clark (Las Vegas): 243.5 — 18. Clark: 247.3
The core counties of metros within the Midwest are clearly the most dense, with most hovering around or above 2,000 people per square mile. Columbus has the 4th densist core county of the bunch.
City Population in 2011 and 2012 by Rank
2011 —————— 2012
1. San Antonio: 1,359,758 2012 numbers to be released in May 2013.
2. San Jose: 967,487
3. Indianapolis: 827,609
4. Austin: 820,611
5. Columbus: 797,434
6. Charlotte: 751,087
7. Nashville: 609,644
8. Milwaukee: 597,867
9. Portland: 593,820
10. Las Vegas: 589,317
11. Sacramento: 472,178
12. Kansas City: 463,202
13. Virginia Beach: 442,707
14. Cleveland: 393,806
15. Pittsburgh: 307,484
16. Cincinnati: 296,223
17. Orlando: 243,195
18. Providence: 178,053
City Area Size in Square Miles in 2011 by Rank
Nashville: 527.9
Virginia Beach: 497.3
San Antonio: 412.1
Indianapolis: 372.0
Kansas City: 319.0
Charlotte: 297.7
Austin: 297.0
Columbus: 217.2
San Jose: 180.0
Portland: 145.1
Las Vegas: 135.8
Orlando: 110.7
Sacramento: 100.1
Milwaukee: 96.8
Cleveland: 82.5
Cincinnati: 79.4
Pittsburgh: 58.3
Providence: 20.5
City Population Density Per Square Mile in 2011 by Rank
Providence: 8,685.5
Milwaukee: 6,176.3
San Jose: 5,374.9
Pittsburgh: 5274.2
Cleveland: 4,773.4
Sacramento: 4,717.1
Las Vegas: 4,339.6
Portland: 4,092.5
Cincinnati: 3,726.1
Columbus: 3,671.4
San Antonio: 3,299.6
Austin: 2,763.0
Charlotte: 2,523.0
Indianapolis: 2,224.8
Orlando: 2,196.9
Kansas City: 1,452.0
Nashville: 1,154.8
Virginia Beach: 890.2
So for the most part, when it comes to metro density, Columbus runs mostly in the middle, although it does have a rather dense core county.
I’ll examine some tract densities in Part 2, as well as the overall trends for Columbus and where it might fall come 2020.
For more metro area information, go here: Metro Area Demographics