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America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers
Only 50 U.S. Counties Had Populations Over a Million in 2024
Fifty or 1.6% of the United States’ 3,144 counties had at least one million people on July 1, 2024, more than double the number (23) in 1970.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s county-level population estimates, which date back to 1970, only 54 counties have ever crossed the one-million-person mark. By 2024, four had slipped below one million, bringing the total to 50.
Despite representing only a sliver of the nation’s counties, around 30% of the total U.S. population lived in these million-person counties from 1970 to 2024.
A new U.S. Census Bureau data visualization explores these million-person counties and how they changed during this 54-year span.
Continue reading to learn more about:
- The most populous and least populous million-person counties
- Counties that dropped below one million since 1970
- Population trends of million-person counties
📊 Related Data Viz
Use our new data visualization to explore counties in the United States with 1 million or more people from 1970 to 2024.
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