Urbanization in the United States

Urban and rural populations in the United States (1790 to 2010)[1]
Choropleth map of urban population as percentage of US states and D.C. total population in 2020

The urbanization of the United States has progressed throughout its entire history. Over the last two centuries, the United States of America has been transformed from a predominantly rural, agricultural nation into an urbanized, industrial one.[2] This was largely due to the Industrial Revolution in the United States (and parts of Western Europe) in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and the rapid industrialization which the United States experienced as a result. In 1790, only about one out of every twenty Americans (on average) lived in urban areas (cities), but this ratio had dramatically changed to one out of four by 1870, one out of two by 1920, two out of three in the 1960s, and four out of five in the 2000s.[2]

  1. ^ "Urban and rural populations in the United States". Our World in Data. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b United States Summary: 2010 (PDF). 2010 Census of Population and Housing, Population and Housing Unit Counts, CPH-2-5. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau. 2012. pp. 20–26. Retrieved February 4, 2023.