Changes in the American economic landscape have led to shifts in population across the country. The industrial cities, whose populations rose high in the middle of the last century, are now crashing while suburb cities boom. Hover over the ranking lines to see the rise and fall of city sizes since 1850.
Source: US census bureau
Cities of industry such as Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland and Cincinnati have had dramatic population drops while super-suburbs San Jose, Phoenix and San Diego have seen precipitous population increases in recent decades. Hover over the population lines to see the rise and fall since 1850. Note: New York, Los Angeles and Chicago leave frame because scale was set to best display fluctuations of smaller cities.
Source: US census bureau
It's been a hard half century for the rust belt. As US manufacturing continues to drop, jobs have dried up in America's working class metropolises. Population has dropped with unemployment rates: 16% in Detroit, 11% in Philadelphia, 10% in Baltimore compared to the national 7%.
Not only are some urban areas dying due to joblessness, populations have been shifting out of city centers for the last 50 years. Suburbs surrounding cities have swelled, leaching numbers away from urban centers. Some metropolitan areas' population has risen as city populations plummet.
America's fastest-growing cities are super-suburbs, sprawling over wide spaces and built out rather than up. Phoenix, San Jose and Houston have less dense city centers than the country's older cities and are taking advantage of their room to grow.
By Sam Rolens