# How Many of the 20 Largest Cities in Your State Have You Been To? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116 "2014-06-05T13:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/81 "2014-06-06T02:14:28Z")
I’ve been to all of them in Nevada: 1. Las Vegas - 589,317 2. Henderson - 260,068 3. Reno - 227,511 4. North Las Vegas - 219,020 5. Sparks - 91,195 6. Carson City - 55,439 7. Fernley - 19,327 8. Elko - 18,546 9. Mesquite - 15,423 10. Boulder City - 15,166 11. Fallon - 8,522 12. Winnemucca - 7,489 13. West Wendover - 4,472 14. Ely - 4,288 15. Yerington - 3,041 16. Carlin - 2,400 17. Lovelock - 1,881 18. Wells - 1,309 19. Caliente - 1,123 20. (We don’t have 20 cities) I have also been to Jean, population zero, zipcode 89019. How many other states have real towns with a functioning courthouse and post office with zero population? > **[Jean, Nevada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean,_Nevada)** > > Jean is a small commercial town in Clark County, Nevada, United States, located approximately 12 mi (19 km) north of the Nevada–California state line along Interstate 15. Las Vegas is located about 30 mi (48 km) to the north. There are no residents of Jean, but many people in nearby communities such as Primm and Sandy Valley have Jean listed in their mailing address because it is the location of the main post office for the 89019 ZIP code. South Las Vegas Boulevard ends about 2 mi (3.2 km) south ... ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/82 "2014-06-06T02:29:58Z")
1 Jacksonville 823316 – bowling tournament 2 Miami 408568 – a concert, plus family wanted to go to beach but was raining 3 Tampa 335709 – go to Hard Rock casino all the time 4 St. Petersburg 244818 – went to beach occasionally 5 Orlando 239037 – used to live there 6 Hialeah 225461 – nope 7 Tallahassee 181376 – been though, don’t think I’ve ever visited 8 Fort Lauderdale 166039 – I’m sure I’ve been there as a child although it may have been Boca 9 Port St. Lucie 165153 – nope 10 Pembroke Pines 155252 – May have gone to a wedding there 11 Cape Coral 154668 – I’m counting this because I know I’ve been to Ft Myers which isn’t on the list 12 Hollywood 141202 – Hard Rock. 13 Gainesville 124433 – Stayed there before my ultramarathon 14 Miramar 122438 – What’s up with all these suburbs of Miami? geesh 15 Coral Springs 121492 – umm, did you hear me 😃 16 Clearwater 107697 – visited a friend there 17 Miami Gardens 107559 – OMG you can’t be serious, stop that! 18 Palm Bay 103225 – I live there. There is no there there. It should positively not count as a city, let alone the 18th largest. There isn’t even a downtown. Even though Melbourne is smaller I always think of Palm Bay as a suburb of Melbourne since it actually has a downtown. 19 West Palm Beach 100175 20 Pompano Beach 100154 So, 12. I’ve probably been to a few more suburbs of miami but who really knows? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/83 "2014-06-06T02:33:56Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > In Texas, living here for this long and the work and vacationing I do mean I had to go to #37, San Angelo, to have a miss. In fact, I’m 66/67 and will need a bigger [list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Texas_by_population). See, now I HAVE been to San Angelo! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/84 "2014-06-06T02:41:29Z")
I’m sure I’ve driven through a number of them, but to actually stop and do something, a handful. 1 Manchester, New Hampshire 109,565 Yep 2 Nashua, New Hampshire 86,494 Yep 3 Concord, New Hampshire 42,695 Yep 4 Derry, New Hampshire 33,109 5 Dover, New Hampshire 29,987 6 Rochester, New Hampshire 29,752 7 Salem, New Hampshire 28,776 8 Merrimack, New Hampshire 25,494 Yep 9 Hudson, New Hampshire 24,467 10 Londonderry, New Hampshire 24,129 11 Keene, New Hampshire 23,409 12 Portsmouth, New Hampshire 21,233 Yep 13 Bedford, New Hampshire 21,203 14 Goffstown, New Hampshire 17,651 15 Laconia, New Hampshire 15,951 16 Milford, New Hampshire 15,115 17 Hampton, New Hampshire 14,976 18 Durham, New Hampshire 14,638 19 Exeter, New Hampshire 14,306 20 Windham, New Hampshire 13,592 ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/85 "2014-06-06T03:12:44Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > [Most Populous Cities in Illinois](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Illinois#Most_populous) > > 1 Sydney, NSW 3,502,301 > 2 Newcastle, NSW 279,975 > 3 Central Coast, NSW 255,429 > 4 Wollongong, NSW 228,846 > 5 Maitland, NSW 53,470 > 6 Tweed Heads, NSW 45,024 > 7 Wagga Wagga, NSW 44,451 > 8 Albury, NSW 42,148 > 9 Port Macquarie, NSW 37,982 > 10 Tamworth, NSW 32,543 > 11 Orange, NSW 31,970 > 12 Dubbo, NSW 30,937 > 13 Queanbeyan, NSW 29,928 > 14 Lismore, NSW 27,358 > 15 Bathurst, NSW 27,036 > 16 Coffs Harbour, NSW 26,083 > 17 Richmond, NSW 25,889 > 18 Windsor, NSW 25,889 > 19 Bomaderry, NSW 24,765 > 20 Nowra, NSW 24,765 20/20 Apart from Broken Hill #23 have been to all of the top 50. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/86 "2014-06-06T03:17:47Z")
Maine. Looks like I’ve been to 17 of the 20 most populous municipalities, including all of the top 13. I’m not sure they’re all technically cities. I’ve never been to Bath or Caribou, but I’ve been within five miles of each. I’ve never been closer than 20 miles from Rockland. Portland yes Lewiston yes Bangor yes South Portland yes Auburn yes Biddeford yes Sanford yes Augusta yes Saco yes Westbrook yes Waterville yes Presque Isle yes Brewer yes Bath no Caribou no Old Town yes Ellsworth yes Rockland no Belfast yes Gardiner yes ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/87 "2014-06-06T03:22:40Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > In Victoria, Australia, there aren’t 20 ‘cities’! I consider a city to have a central business district _and_ suburbs (that have a different name to the city). Using that criteria, there’s five, and I’ve been to all of them. > > Melbourne > Geelong > Bendigo > Ballarat > Wodonga You might (just) squeeze Mildura into that list as well ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/88 "2014-06-06T04:20:26Z")
Grew up in Texas: Houston: Yes San Antonio: Yes Dallas: Yes Austin: Yes Fort Worth: Yes El Paso: Yes Arlington: Yes Corpus Christi: Yes Plano: Yes Laredo: No Lubbock: Yes Garland: Yes Irving: Yes Amarillo: Yes Grand Prairie: Yes Brownsville: No Pasadena: Yes Mesquite: No McKinney: No McAllen: No That’s 15 out of 20 or 75%. And nine of the top 10 or 90%. I lived in Albuquerque for a while, and of the top 20 in New Mexico: Albuquerque: Yes (duh) Las Cruces: Yes Rio Rancho: No Santa Fe: Yes Roswell: Yes Farmington: Yes South Valley: Yes Clovis: Yes Hobbs: Yes Alamogordo: Yes Carlsbad: Yes Gallup: Yes Los Alamos: Yes Deming: Yes Los Lunas: Yes Chaparral: No Sunland Park: No Las Vegas: Yes Portales: Yes North Valley: Yes That’s 17 of 20 or 85%. Again, nine of the top 10 or 90%. And then there was my time in Honolulu. The top 20 in Hawaii: Honolulu East Honolulu Pearl City Hilo Kailua Waipahu Kaneohe Mililani Town Kahului Ewa Gentry Mililani Mauka Kihei Makakilo Wahiawa Schofield Barracks Wailuku Kapolei Ewa Beach Royal Kunia Halawa Yes to all for 100%. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/89 "2014-06-06T04:52:03Z")
I’ve been to all three! And one of them only counts ‘cause it has "City’ in its name! ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/90 "2014-06-06T05:25:07Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > 1. > > It helps that a few years ago I made an effort to go everywhere in the state and see the whole thing. It also helps that the biggest three counties (with most of the largest cities) are the one I live in, the one directly to the south and the one directly to the north. > > But #11 Spokane Valley. I may have driven through it going in or out of Spokane, but I’ve never _been_ there. I didn’t even know it existed. The next highest one I’ve not been to is #63 Sunnyside. It’s a new city, just ten years old. I90 east of Spoksne bisects it so you may have driven through it. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/91 "2014-06-06T05:26:42Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > You might (just) squeeze Mildura into that list as well Yer’ right! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/92 "2014-06-06T05:47:16Z")
Top 20? 20 large cities don’t exist in Arkansas. We barely can produce a top 4 over 75k. been to the top 7 cities. Never visited Rogers Little Rock includes the Little Rock Metropolitan Area. Quite a few different communities. So really Little Rock is more like three-quarters of a million. > [@](#): > > Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) had a population of 724,385 people in the 2013 census estimate. The MSA is included in the Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR Combined Statistical Area, which had a population of 898,683 in the 2013 census estimate. As of the 2010 US Census, Little Rock had a city proper population of 193,524.[1][2] It is the county seat of Pulaski County. > **[Arkansas (USA): State, Major Cities, Towns & Places - Population...](https://www.citypopulation.de/en/usa/cities/arkansas/)** > > State of Arkansas with population statistics, maps, charts, weather and web information. > [@](#): > > 1 Little Rock 197,357 > 2 Fort Smith 87,650 > 3 Fayetteville 78,960 > 4 Springdale 75,229 > 5 Jonesboro 71,551 > 6 North Little Rock 66,075 > 7 Conway 63,816 > 8 Rogers 60,112 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/93 "2014-06-06T13:27:51Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Where is this list from? It should have Paducah and Georgetown. > > I lived in Kentucky for 5 years, then 7 years. I’ve been to all of these thanks to work travel. You know what? I suck. I retyped a list from [here](http://voices.yahoo.com/largest-cities-kentucky-2012-6029450.html?cat=16) and I omitted Paducah and Georgetown. The good news is, I’ve been to both places, a bazillion times. 🙂 (Do you live here now?) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/94 "2014-06-06T15:19:35Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > I have also been to Jean, population zero, zipcode 89019. The Mrs. and I have been to Jean, too. Nice buffet at the casino. Didn’t know the whole Population Zero at the time. Thanks for the fun fact! ---
**Author:** ![RachelChristine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RachelChristine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RachelChristine)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/95 "2014-06-06T15:19:38Z")
I’m in WV. Our biggest city, Charleston, has just over 50,000 people. It quickly drops from there. By the time you get to number 6 you are below 20,000. Charleston YES Huntington YES Parkersburg YES Wheeling YES Morgantown YES Weirton NO Fairmont YES Beckley YES Clarksburg YES Martinsburg NO South Charleston YES Teays Valley YES St. Albans YES Vienna I don’t even know where this is! Bluefield YES Shepherdstown NO Cross Lanes YES Moundsville Driven through it Bridgeport YES Cheat Lake NO If I keep going I also hit #21, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27, which is as far as the list I found goes. Oddly the website I found (city-data) listed the place where I grew up, Pea Ridge, with 6,650 residents. The thing is, Pea Ridge isn’t a city, town, village, anything. It’s two roads (and their offshoots) in an unincorporated area. No matter which ridge you live on, your address is considered Huntington. If people consider Pea Ridge anything, they usually think of it as Barboursville, since it’s right outside the village limits. I just looked it up and it is called a “census-designated place”. Cool! Now I’ll go figure out where my own unincorporated community ranks (although we do have a post office!) ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/96 "2014-06-06T16:26:11Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > From the 2010 census: > > I’m not sure how Maryland defines “city” or “town” because Waldorf, which is home to all the big box stores and the mall and a lot of apartments and other businesses in this part of the state, doesn’t show up on the list. Same with Lexington Park, home of a large Naval Air Station. I would never have thought MD had 20 ‘cities’. So I’ll copy your list. Baltimore city - Yes Frederick city - Yes Rockville city - Yes Gaithersburg city - Yes Bowie city - Yes Hagerstown city - Yes Annapolis city - Yes College Park city - No Salisbury city - Yes - if you count driving through it on the way to the ocean Laurel city - Yes Greenbelt city - No Cumberland city - Yes Westminster city - Yes Hyattsville city - No Takoma Park city - Yes Easton town - Yes Elkton town - Yes Aberdeen city - Yes Havre de Grace city - Yes Cambridge city - Yes ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/97 "2014-06-06T16:52:14Z")
1 Atlanta 2 Augusta 3 Columbus 4 Savannah 5 Athens 6 Sandy Springs 7 Roswell 8 Macon 9 Johns Creek 10 Albany 11 Warner Robins 12 Alpharetta 13 Marietta 14 Valdosta 15 Smyrna 16 Dunwoody 17 Rome 18 East Point 19 Milton 20 Gainesville I have been to all except Milton, one of GA’s newer cities. I have probably been through there, but had no reason to stop… ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/98 "2014-06-06T18:08:16Z")
I’d like to point out that while Wikipedia lists 242 cities in Oregon, the 242nd has a population of 0. \*\*1 Portland 2 Salem 3 Eugene \*\* 4 Gresham **5 Hillsboro 6 Beaverton 7 Bend 8 Medford 9 Springfield 10 Corvallis 11 Albany 12 Tigard 13 Lake Oswego 14 Keizer 15 Grants Pass 16 Oregon City 17 McMinnville 18 Redmond 19 Tualatin** 20 West Linn Woo! Road trip to Gresham and West Lynn! ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/99 "2014-06-06T19:00:30Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I’d like to point out that while Wikipedia lists 242 cities in Oregon, the 242nd has a population of 0. [Salute](http://eatpreyhate.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/heehaw20salute1.jpg)! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116/100 "2014-06-06T19:29:43Z")
[South Carolina](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_South_Carolina) [ol] [li]Columbia - Yes[/li][li]Charleston - Yes[/li][li]North Charleston - Yes[/li][li]Mount Pleasant - Yes[/li][li]Rock Hill - Yes[/li][li]Greenville - Yes[/li][li]Summerville - Yes[/li][li]Sumter - Yes[/li][li]Hilton Head Island - Yes[/li][li]Spartanburg - Yes[/li][li]Florence - Yes[/li][li]Goose Creek - Yes[/li][li]Aiken - Yes[/li][li]Myrtle Beach - Yes[/li][li]Anderson - No[/li][li]Greer - No[/li][li]Mauldin - No[/li][li]Greenwood - No[/li][li]North Augusta - Yes[/li][li]Easley - No[/li][/ol] Down to #15 for a miss. But having a kid in competitive, state level gymnastics will do that to you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-20-largest-cities-in-your-state-have-you-been-to/690116.md?page=6)