# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/121 "2010-03-02T16:17:56Z")
I don’t recall hearing of Gilbert, AZ before now, so that was mine. Also, as a lifelong LA native, I find the number of SoCal locations people have never heard of to be kind of amusing, but there ya go. ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/122 "2010-03-02T16:41:38Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > I got to El Paseo, and thought I should count it. While I’ve heard jokes about HellPasso I had \*no \*idea it was any bigger than a one-horse town. But I should go with #42 Virginia Beach, VA and then #58 Aurora, CO. :(😛 ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/123 "2010-03-02T16:43:34Z")
Henderson, NV, #71 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/124 "2010-03-02T17:38:26Z")
#71 Henderson, Nevada. That may as well be made up; I’ve never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/125 "2010-03-02T17:55:34Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > 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? I know it mostly from Hohokam Park, where the Cubs host their spring training games. I tapped out at #42 Virginia Beach, VA. Perhaps somewhere in my mind I’ve heard of it – looking at the map, I know Newport News, VA, which is next door – but I can’t think of any other reason to know Virginia Beach. After that, I get tripped up at #47 Bakersfield, CA, and again at #63 Stockton, CA. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/126 "2010-03-02T18:08:23Z")
I’m surprised at the number of people that have never heard of Aurora or Virginia Beach, but then I’ve been to both. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/127 "2010-03-02T18:20:13Z")
Bakersfield, CA, home of the Onion Field Killings. And damn expensive convenience store sodas. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/128 "2010-03-02T18:22:23Z")
Santa Ana for me, too. I thought “Santa Ana” referred to just mountains and the wind they cause. **LSLGuy** , Warren is one of the innermost suburbs of Detroit. Very working class, for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/129 "2010-03-02T18:25:51Z")
Fremont, Calif. (#104). ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/130 "2010-03-02T21:51:55Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > This one… although I would never have heard of Fresno if not for its college football team. > > Next up are Aurora, CO; Stockton, CA; Chandler, AZ and Gilbert, AZ. > > Fun trivia question: what’s the largest city in the US by land area? Isn’t it Jacksonville, FL? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/131 "2010-03-02T21:59:01Z")
58, Aurora, CO. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/132 "2010-03-02T21:59:07Z")
Aurora, Colorado? Where the heck is that city hiding? I will say that the only time’s I’ve heard of Mesa, Arizona, are in various articles assuring me that it’s the largest American city I’ve never heard of. ---
**Author:** ![Piker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@Piker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Piker)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/133 "2010-03-02T22:11:30Z")
> [@Picard\_Kills\_Kirk](#): > > #10: San Jose, California > > Maybe It’s because I lived on the east coast all my life, but I don’t think I have ever heard of San Jose before. I opened this thread bracing for the moment someone mentioned the town where I was born and raised. Growing up there, you’re inundated with home town boosterism: we’re important! Center of the technological revolution! More people than San Francisco! Oh, how I miss San Jose. To address the St. Louis v. Omaha point, I went to undergrad there, and I can report that even the residents of St. Louis County (which is the suburbs) say they are from St. Louis. The fact that the city boundary ends at Skinker is of no matter to anyone, except that the road surface quality gets better and the bars close earlier. (Of course, the balkinization of municipalities in the Eastern Missouri area has led to an enormous amount of inefficiencies, but that’s neither here nor there.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/134 "2010-03-02T23:10:37Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Fun trivia question: what’s the largest city in the US by land area? I’ve always heard it to be Jacksonville, FL but it wouldn’t surprise me to find it’s some godforsaken location in Alaska. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/135 "2010-03-03T03:17:19Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I’ve always heard it to be Jacksonville, FL but it wouldn’t surprise me to find it’s some godforsaken location in Alaska. I think that’s correct. Without bothering to try to find it right now, I think I’ve read, maybe on this board, that it is something like Fairbanks or Anchorage, some Alaskan city whose legal boundaries extend for hundreds of miles. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/136 "2010-03-03T04:39:21Z")
> [@The\_Shroud](#): > > I guess that would be #50, Arlington, TX. What! Do you not read my posts, or just not read my location? 😉 1. Riverside, CA for me. My wife recognized everything until 94. Gilbert, AZ; she worked for many years in collections & called people all over the country. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/137 "2010-03-03T04:52:35Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > They’ve got a few other quaint [mom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perot_Systems) & [pop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Data_Systems) operations as well. There’s only [one real ‘pop’ operation](http://investor.drpeppersnapple.com/contactus.cfm?pagesect=corp) in Plano, buddy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/138 "2010-03-03T13:57:42Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I’ve always heard it to be Jacksonville, FL but it wouldn’t surprise me to find it’s some godforsaken location in Alaska. That is correct - the entirety of Duval County was incorporated as the city of Jacksonville for some reason that nobody quite understands. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/139 "2010-03-03T14:30:06Z")
39 Mesa Arizona. Only missed a couple more in the top 100. It strikes me that you can really live anonymously in the US. 273 cities of over 100,000 people. Take your pick and get lost. And I suppose lots of them are just political divisions in an endless stretch of urban centers that have 3M+. Up here in Canada, you’ve got about 20 places maybe where you can really go unnoticed if you want. Go ahead, try to be invisible in number 100, Pembroke Ontario, population 23,000. The mob/cops/ex-wife will track you down by noon. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682/140 "2010-03-03T19:30:05Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That is correct - the entirety of Duval County was incorporated as the city of Jacksonville for some reason that nobody quite understands. To look bigger on maps. (I think it must’ve worked to some degree. How else could they have landed an NFL franchise?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-never-heard-of/530682.md?page=8)