With its tightly packed skyscrapers and crammed subway car , New York Cityis believably the most stereotypic example of a crowded U.S. metropolis . societal distancing by , it ’s not an inaccurate portrait . accord to Rent.com , theBig Applehas about 27,547 resident physician per square mile , making it the most densely populated city in the res publica .
New York City ’s residential bunch have also splatter over into the surrounding area . New Jersey ’s Jersey City and Newark — both democratic places for Manhattan commuters to hold up — are the third and 9th most densely populated cities , respectively . California ’s Bay Area is another population hot spot . San Francisco fare in second place with 18,808 residents per square stat mi ; and Berkeley polish out the top 10 with well-nigh 11,600 . The residue of the tilt is pretty much what you ’d anticipate . Boston , Miami , Chicago , andPhiladelphiaall ranked in the top 10 ; and Washington , D.C. missed it by just one spot .
While bustling urban centers can be fun for a few nights , living there full - time definitely is n’t for everyone . Some people would opt to put down roots on a patch of land where you ca n’t see another sign for statute mile . But what about those of us who ’d still like to be in a metropolis — just not a crowded one ? Rent.com compile a lean of those , too . To be included , metropolis had to cover at least 10 square miles and have at least 50,000 residents .

Arizona is the clear champion of sparsely populated cities . It has three in the top 10 — Buckeye , Goodyear , and Casa Grande — with residents per straightforward mile range from 212 to 535 . Other arid locales in Nevada , Oklahoma , and Texas made the tilt , too . But the first place finisher is much farther northwards : Anchorage , Alaska , with a universe density of just 169 .
If you do n’t see your city on either top 10 list below , you may look for it on the full list of 50most crowded citiesor their 50least crowded counterpart .