# Largest U.S. City You Never Heard Of **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682 "2010-02-27T20:55:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/1 "2010-02-27T20:55:49Z")
I was looking at the Wikipedia listing of the largest cities in the U.S. and I ran across Mesa, Arizona. With a population of 463,552 it is the 39th largest city in the U.S. and by far the largest U.S. city I had never heard of. I am truly astounded that I was unaware of a city this size. Going by the Wikipedia list, what is the largest city in the U.S. that you have never heard of? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Shroud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@The\_Shroud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Shroud)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/2 "2010-02-27T20:59:33Z")
[Link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population). I guess that would be #50, Arlington, TX. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/3 "2010-02-27T21:04:17Z")
I had to go down to #95 Gilbert Arizona to find one. Hey if Phoenix would annex all those suburbs it’s bigger than Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/4 "2010-02-27T21:07:28Z")
For me, it’s #54, Santa Ana, California, population 339,130. Seems to be in Orange County…I figured the largest I’d never heard of would be an overgrown suburb, and it looks like I was right. (on edit: Looked at its wikipedia page…maybe there’s more to it than just an outpost of LA. Hard to say. Interestingly, I’ve heard of a lot of the things that get there names from there (the Santa Ana winds, for example) but never heard of the town) ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/5 "2010-02-27T21:09:00Z")
Santa Ana, Ca. #54. It’s bigger than Pittsburgh! Simulpost! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/6 "2010-02-27T21:09:37Z")
[List of US Cities by Population](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population) I guess I’d tap out at number 12, Jacksonville. I’ve heard of something called, “Jacksonville”, but it’s the sort of name where I’d be thinking of some quaint town in Maryland, not a large city in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/7 "2010-02-27T21:15:11Z")
I got #117, Moreno Valley, California, before I said “bwuh?” Apparently it’s a suburb of Riverside which has grown to be larger than Little Rock, Arkansas. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/8 "2010-02-27T21:18:31Z")
#90 Garland, TX. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/9 "2010-02-27T21:22:16Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > I got #117, Moreno Valley, California, before I said “bwuh?” Apparently it’s a suburb of Riverside which has grown to be larger than Little Rock, Arkansas. Go figure. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/10 "2010-02-27T21:35:03Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I had to go down to #95 Gilbert Arizona to find one. Hey if Phoenix would annex all those suburbs it’s bigger than Chicago. Well, the City of Phoenix is already larger than Los Angeles, with more than 400 square miles. In area, that is. It is the 5th largest in population. ---
**Author:** ![kenner116](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@kenner116](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenner116)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/11 "2010-02-27T21:35:12Z")
#76, Chandler, Arizona. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/12 "2010-02-27T21:45:17Z")
for me it would be Mesa too ,never heard of it but every thing I know about the US comes from exported Pop-culture, how would’ve I heard of Mesa? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/13 "2010-02-27T21:51:24Z")
76, 89, 92, & 143, but I knew all those in between and about two thirds after 143. I travel a lot. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/14 "2010-02-27T21:53:51Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > how would’ve I heard of Mesa? Well they do have Sheriff Crazy Joe Arpaio, who is pretty famous. Of course since he is a sheriff they talk about the county, Maricopa, more, and of course Phoenix, but there is occasional news about something he did in Mesa. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/15 "2010-02-27T22:02:41Z")
#141 Santa Clarita, CA. I may have heard of it, but I get all those L.A. suburb cities mixed up in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/16 "2010-02-27T22:10:03Z")
Santa Ana, CA. (I seem to have a lot of company.) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/17 "2010-02-27T22:26:34Z")
Me too for Santa Ana. Following that, Aurora, Colorado. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/18 "2010-02-27T22:39:20Z")
#58, Aurora, Colorado ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/19 "2010-02-27T22:41:22Z")
> [@TheFifthYear](#): > > For me, it’s #54, Santa Ana, California, population 339,130. Same here. Edit: And after looking at the pictures of the top cities, I had no freakin’ idea you could easily see mountains and _snow_ in LA! I guess I’ve always seen pictures of LA taken either towards the ocean, or looking along the coastline. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/20 "2010-02-27T22:46:33Z")
> [@kenner116](#): > > #76, Chandler, Arizona. That was it for me also. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682.md?page=2)