List of most populous cities in Florida by decade explained

This list tracks and ranks the population of the ten most populous cities and other settlements in the State of Florida by decade, as reported by each decennial United States Census, starting with the 1830 Census.

The Census Bureau's definition of an "urban place" has included a variety of designations, including city, town, township, village, borough, and municipality. The top places from 1830 through 1850 consisted of various places designated as cities, towns and other settlements. The top 10 urban areas in 2020 are all separate incorporated places.

This list generally refers only to the population of individual urban places within their defined limits at the time of the indicated census.^[1] Some of these places have since been annexed or merged into other cities. Other places may have expanded their borders due to such annexation or consolidation.

1830

The first United States Census taken as the Territory of Florida.

1840

Rank	City	County	Population	Notes
1			2,450
2			1,616
3			688

1850

The 1850 census is the first census taken since statehood in 1845.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	2,164
2	1,943	Original return incomplete as slave population was unavailable.
3	1,934
4	1,045
5	974	Population include soldiers stationed at Fort Brooke.
6	377
7	329
8	243
9	232
10	189

1860

1860 was the eve of the American Civil War. This was the eighth United States Census. The majority of the population lived in cities and towns in Northern Florida. In summary, nine out of ten cities would exceed 1,000 residents.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	2,876
2	2,832
3	2,118
4	1,932
5	1,914
6	1,904	First appearance in the top 10.
7	1,815	First appearance in the top 10.
8	1,390	First appearance in the top 10.
9	1,083
10	659	First appearance in the top 10.

1870

This was the ninth United States Census.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	6,912	Becomes Florida's largest city for this census only. Would regain this status in 1900.
2	5,016	Includes population outside of city limits. The municipality was not returned separately.
3	3,347
4	2,023
5	1,722
6	1,717
7	1,129
8	1,052	Last appearance in the top 10.
9	1,014
10	964

1880

Rank	Population	Notes
1	9,890	Becomes Florida's largest city for this census & in 1890. Jacksonville would regain this status in 1900.
2	7,650
3	6,845
4	2,502
5	2,494
6	2,293
7	1,616	First appearance in the top 10.
8	1,379
9	1,336
10	1,058	Last appearance in the top 10.

1890

The 1890 Census was the eleventh.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	18,080	First city in the Florida to surpass 10,000 residents.
2	17,201
3	11,750
4	5,532
5	4,742
6	3,039
7	2,934
8	2,904
9	2,856	First appearance in the top 10.
10	2,803

1895

The 1895 Census was the second conducted by the State of Florida.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	25,130	Becomes Florida's largest city for the second time. Would hold title until 1950.
2	16,502
3	15,643
4	14,084
5	4,597
6	4,151
7	3,931
8	3,152	First appearance in the top 10.
9	3,061	Last appearance in the top 10.
10	2,993

1900

The 1900 Census was the twelfth.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	28,045
2	17,747
3	17,114
4	15,839
5	4,272
6	4,013
7	3,633
8	3,380
9	3,301	Last appearance in the top 10.
10	3,245

1905

The 1905 Census was the third conducted by the State of Florida.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	35,301
2	22,823
3	21,505
4	20,498
5	7,200	Only appearance in the top 10. The city's population has not since surpassed its 1905 peak.
6	6,509
7	5,413
8	5,121
9	4,959	Last appearance in the top 10.
10	4,733	First appearance in top 10.

1910

The 1910 Census was the thirteenth.

Rank	Population	Notes
1		57,699
2	37,782	Became Florida's second-largest city.
3	22,982
4	19,945
5	8,258	First suburban city to reach the top 10.
6	6,183
7	5,494
8	5,471
9	5,032	Last appearance in the top 10.
10	5,018

1915

The 1915 Census was the fourth conducted by the State of Florida.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	66,850
2	48,160
3	23,219
4	18,495
5	15,592	First appearance in top 5 and becomes South Florida's largest city.
6	7,837
7	7,287	First appearance in the top 10.
8	7,186	First appearance in the top 10.
9	6,736
10	6,448

1920

The 1920 Census was the fourteenth.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	91,588	First city to reach the top-100 nationally.
2	51,608
3	31,035	Last appearance in the top 3.
4	29,571
5	18,749	Last appearance in the top 5.
6	14,237
7	9,282
8	8,859
9	8,468	Would later be annexed by Tampa in 1925.
10		8,192	Last appearance in top 10.

1930

The 1930 Census was the fifteenth. The center of population would shift southward. Three cities would reach 100,000.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	129,549
2	110,637
3	101,161
4	40,425
5	31,579
6	27,330
7	26,610
8	18,554
9	16,598
10	12,831	Final appearance in the top 10 since the city's first census in 1840.

1940

The 1940 Census was the sixteenth. The top three cities would remain over the 100,000 level. Rank for the seven largest cities remained unchanged since 1930.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	173,065	Final appearance as the largest city before consolidation in 1968.
2	172,172
3	108,391
4	60,812
5	37,449
6	36,736
7	33,693
8	28,012	First appearance in the top 10.
9	22,584
10	22,068	Final appearance in the top 10.

1950

1950 was a watershed year for many cities in Florida. For the first time, Central and South Florida begin to dominate the list with eight out of the top ten cities located in these areas.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	249,276	First of two appearances as Florida's largest city.
2	204,517	Peak population before consolidation in 1968.
3	124,681
4	96,738
5	52,367
6	46,282
7	43,479
8	43,162
9	36,328	First appearance in the Top 10.
10	30,851	Final appearance in the top 10.

1960

The 1960 Census was the eighteenth. This is the last census in which any city west of the Apalachicola river has been in the top 10.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	291,688
2	274,970
3	201,030	First ever decline for the city and the lowest rank since 1860.
4	181,298
5	88,035
6	83,643
7	66,972	First appearance in the top 10.
8	63,145
9	56,752	Last appearance in the top 10.
10	56,308	Last appearance in the top 10.

1970

The 1970 Census was the nineteenth.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	504,265	Figures shown are for Duval County excluding the cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Baldwin.^[2]
2	334,859
3	277,767
4	216,232
5	139,590
6	106,873
7	102,297
8	99,006
9	87.072
10		71,897

1980

Rank	Population	Notes
1	540,920	Figures shown are for Duval County excluding the cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Baldwin.
2	346,865
3	271,523	First decline in a century, when the population fell from 796 in 1870 to 720 in 1880.
4	238,647
5	153,279
6	145,254
7	128,291
8	121,323
9	96,298
10		85,170

1990

The 1990 Census was the twenty-first.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	635,230	Figures shown are for Duval County excluding the cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Baldwin.
2	358,548
3	280,015
4	238,629	First decline in the history of the city.
5	188,004
6	164,693
7	149,377	First decline in the history of the city.
8	124,773
9		121,697
10		98,784	Last appearance in the top 10.

2000

The 2000 census was the 22nd in U.S. history. This is the first census when all ten cities passed the 100,000 mark.

Rank	Population	Notes
1	735,503	Figures shown are for Duval County excluding the cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Baldwin.
2	362,470
3	303,447
4	248,232
5	226,419
6	185,951
7	152,397
8	150,624
9		139,357
10		137,427

2010

Rank	Population	Notes
1	821,784	Figures shown are for Duval County excluding the cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Baldwin.
2	399,457
3	335,709	First double-digit growth rate since the 1950s.
4	244,769
5	238,300
6	224,669	First decline in city's history.
7	181,376
8	165,521
9		164,603	First appearance in the top 10.
10		154,750

2020

Rank	Population	Notes
1	949,611	Figures shown are for Duval County excluding the cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Baldwin.
2	442,241
3	384,959
4	307,573
5	258,308
6	223,109
7	204,851
8	196,169
9	194,016	First appearance in the top 10.
10	187,760

References

Sources

Notes and References

In the earlier censuses, the rankings were not definite due to the fact that not all cities were enumerated separately.
The governments of Jacksonville and Duval County consolidated in 1968.