Compare U.S. populations
Choose two to five places of the same geographic type. Population, growth and density use a matching Census vintage and observation interval.
Select places and comparison years
Search by place name, state or official code inside each selection, then choose a result. Select the starting and ending July 1 years. Use population counts for size comparisons or the indexed chart to compare relative growth from the chosen base year.
What makes a fair comparison?
All observations here use the frozen pep-2025-r1 publication, based on Census Vintage 2025. The share link includes the release ID, selected geographic IDs, starting and ending years, and raw or indexed metric view. That specification identifies a research snapshot rather than an automatically updating latest-data page.
Choose like geographic units. A city proper and a metropolitan area have different boundaries, while a county can include both incorporated and unincorporated residents. This tool keeps states and DC, counties, and whole incorporated places in separate selection groups. The District of Columbia remains visibly identified as a federal district.
Absolute growth is ending population minus starting population. Percentage growth expresses that change relative to the starting total. Annualized growth uses the elapsed number of July-to-July years, and density uses the ending population divided by compatible 2025 land area. A zero starting total suppresses percentage and indexed change; missing land area suppresses density.
The indexed chart starts at 100 for the selected beginning year. Its scale describes relative change, not population levels. Calculations use original unrounded observations, and the CSV preserves exact integer populations. Demographic characteristics and metro definitions are outside this launch comparison dataset.