RANKED: America's 25 Most Populated Cities, from First to Worst - Business Insider
RANKED: America's 25 Most Populated Cities, from First to Worst
Jan. 29, 2014, 11:05 PM
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Ben         Taylor heads up editorial development at FindTheBest.         Previously, he spent three years as a product manager at         the company, managing content in Education, Travel & Lifestyle, and Home & Family.
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6 Historical Factors for Reaching the Final Four
We’ve all stumbled across the “10 Best Cities” post only to find   that Orinda, California (population: 18,000) somehow won, based   on a bizarre combination of income, employment, and weather. With   apologies to Dogtown, USA, let’s focus on the real   contestants.
The top 25 most-populated cities in the United   States make up over 15% of the nation. They’re home to many   of our greatest leaders, our most storied sports franchises, and   some of our best expressions of art, culture, and   technology.
But which is best (and worst)? Let’s compare some of the   key factors, then make a final list from #1 to #25.
Note that all numbers are based on a 5-year average from the   American Community Survey, conducted   by the US Census Bureau.
The Candidates
</div>   <p>     <strong style="font-size: 1.5em; color: #000000;">Economy</strong>   </p>   <h3>     <span>Unemployment Rate</span>   </h3>   <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;">     <iframe width="750" height="400" frameborder="0" src="http://city-facts.findthebest.com/w/kIJX83DZsJD"/>   </div>   <p>   Who's got the highest 5-year unemployment rate in the nation?   <a href="http://city-facts.findthedata.org/l/15040/Detroit-Michigan?utm_medium=PAX&amp;utm_source=BI&amp;utm_campaign=BI_cities&amp;utm_term=detroit" rel="nofollow">It's Detroit</a> and it's not close. With a   jobless percentage almost twice as bad as runner-up Philadelphia,   Motor City takes an early hit here. At least they have the   Lions.* </p>   <p>     <span>*Okay, that was mean.</span>   </p>   <p>     <span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The best of   the lot? Seattle, at 6.7%.</span>   </p>   <h3>     <span>Per Capita Income</span>   </h3>   <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;">     <iframe width="750" height="400" frameborder="0" src="http://city-facts.findthebest.com/w/fe4nJymWTlz"/>   </div>   <p>   On a more positive note, which cities boast the highest income   per person? San Francisco and DC nab spots one and two, riding   the gold-laced coattails of tech entrepreneurs and politicians.   Meanwhile, Detroit comes in dead last, with a per capita income   of $14,861. </p>   <h2>     <span>       <strong>Education</strong>     </span>   </h2>   <h3>     <span>High School</span>   </h3>   <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;">     <iframe width="750" height="400" frameborder="0" src="http://city-facts.findthebest.com/w/7e3TFmAk1T"/>     <p>     Super Bowl-bound <a href="http://city-facts.findthedata.org/l/29184/Seattle-Washington?utm_medium=PAX&amp;utm_source=BI&amp;utm_campaign=BI_cities&amp;utm_term=seattle" rel="nofollow">Seattle</a> wins its first round, with the best     high school completion percentage among America's top 25     cities—a sterling 92.9%. Last place goes to Dallas, at 73.8%   </p>     <p>     I was tempted to call out Texas as a whole (Dallas, Houston,     and El Paso occupy three of the last four spots), but     California's Los Angeles swept in at 2nd to last (74.2%)—enough     to throw me off the Lone Star state's scent.   </p>     <h3>       <span>College</span>     </h3>     <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;">       <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;">         <iframe width="750" height="400" frameborder="0" src="http://city-facts.findthebest.com/w/gBeM5bbI2c5"/>       </div>       <p>       Make that two in a row for Seattle—56.5% of Seattle residents       hold Bachelor's degrees, good enough for the best of the       bunch (and one of only three cities over 50%). Good news for       Texas, too, with only one city (El Paso) in the bottom five.       Even high school-averse Dallas makes a leap—from #25 to #14.     </p>       <p>       Meanwhile, poor Detroit falls back to its familiar role as       the caboose: only 12.3% of residents have graduated from       college.     </p>       <h3>         <span>Median Age </span>       </h3>       <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;">         <iframe width="750" height="400" frameborder="0" src="http://city-facts.findthebest.com/w/b6zcGFUFsO1"/>       </div>       <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;"/>       <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;">       Is older better? San Francisco hopes so. With a median age of       38.5, the City by the Bay boasts more gray hairs per       individual head than any of America's other big cities. In       contrast, Milwaukee (30.5) and Boston (30.9) are home to the       youngest residents.     </div>       <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;"/>       <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;">       So how do I score this category? It's the fountain of youth       vs. the wisdom of experience. Let's call it a draw.     </div>       <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;"/>       <h3>       Population Density     </h3>       <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;">         <iframe width="750" height="400" frameborder="0" src="http://city-facts.findthebest.com/w/jlzyMqPejT7"/>       </div>     </div>     <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;">       <p>       Some people like huge crowds, packed subways, and tiny       apartments. Most people over 30 don't. As such, I'm rewarding       open cities like Jacksonville (942 people per square mile)       while penalizing sardine-inclined cities like New York        (17.5k per square mile). But not much.     </p>       <h3>         <span style="font-size: 1.17em; color: #000000;">Traffic</span>       </h3>       <div style="width: 750px; margin: 0 auto;">         <iframe width="750" height="400" frameborder="0" src="http://city-facts.findthebest.com/w/8mepZqh9b6Z"/>         <div style="text-align: left;">           <a href="http://city-facts.findthebest.com/v/499/Big-US-Cities-with-Shortest-Average-Commute" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> </a>         </div>         <div style="text-align: left;">         Here's one category we can all agree on. Columbus wins the         traffic war, with an average commute time of only 21.2         minutes. Meanwhile, cities like New York, Chicago, Los         Angeles and Philadelphia receive lower scores, with average         commutes ranging from 30 to 40 minutes.       </div>         <div style="text-align: left;">           <em> </em>         </div>         <h2 style="text-align: left;">         The Rankings       </h2>         <p>         I ranked all 25 cities in each category, and weighted the         categories:       </p>         <p>         Economic and educational factors: 20% each       </p>         <p>         Traffic: 15%       </p>         <p>         Population density: 5%       </p>         <p>         Median age: 0% (couldn't bring myself to say that younger         or older was better)       </p>         <p>         (Weighted ranks in parentheses)       </p>         <p><strong>1. Seattle, Washington </strong>(3.75)       </p>         <p><strong>2. Austin, Texas </strong>(5.80)       </p>         <p><strong>3. San Francisco, California </strong>(6.70)       </p>         <p><strong>4. San Diego, California </strong>(6.80)       </p>         <p><strong>5. Denver, Colorado </strong>(7.95)       </p>         <p><strong>6. Charlotte, North Carolina </strong>(8.75)       </p>         <p><strong>7. Washington, DC </strong>(9.30)       </p>         <p><strong>8. Columbus, Ohio </strong>(9.60)       </p>         <p><strong>9. San Jose, California </strong>(10.55)       </p>         <p><strong>10. Boston, Massachusetts </strong>(10.70)       </p>         <p><strong>11. Jacksonville, Florida </strong>(12.65)       </p>         <p><strong>12. San Antonio, Texas </strong>(13.85)       </p>         <p><strong>13. Houston, Texas </strong>(14.35)       </p>         <p><strong>14. Dallas, Texas </strong>(14.60)       </p>         <p><strong>15. Phoenix, Arizona </strong>(14.65)       </p>         <p><strong>16. New York, New York </strong>(15.00)       </p>         <p><strong>17. Fort Worth, Texas </strong>(15.15)       </p>         <p><strong>18. El Paso, Texas </strong>(15.20)       </p>         <p><strong>19. Memphis, Tennessee </strong>(15.80)       </p>         <p><strong>20. Chicago, Illinois </strong>(16.00)       </p>         <p><strong>21. Los Angeles, California </strong>(17.50)       </p>         <p><strong>22. Milwaukee, Wisconsin </strong>(17.75)       </p>         <p><strong>23. Baltimore, Maryland </strong>(19.05)       </p>         <p><strong>24. Philadelphia,         Pennsylvania </strong>(21.00)       </p>         <p><strong>25. Detroit, Michigan </strong>(22.55)       </p>       </div>     </div>   </div> </div>             <p class="tagline">Read the original article on <a href="http://www.findthebest.com/">FindTheBest</a>.  Copyright 2014. 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RANKED: America's 25 Most Populated Cities, from First to Worst