Largest Cities in Each State Quiz

Pick the largest city of the state that lights up on the map.

Largest Cities in Each State Quiz

Name Date

What is the largest city in Massachusetts?

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Write the name of each numbered city.Answer key

  1. Seattle
  2. Billings
  3. Fargo
  4. Minneapolis
  5. Milwaukee
  6. Detroit
  7. New York City
  8. Burlington
  9. Portland (in the East)
  10. Manchester
  11. Boston
  12. Providence
  13. Bridgeport
  14. Newark
  15. Wilmington
  16. Baltimore
  17. Portland (in the West)
  18. Boise
  19. Cheyenne
  20. Sioux Falls
  21. Omaha
  22. Des Moines
  23. Chicago
  24. Indianapolis
  25. Columbus
  26. Philadelphia
  27. Los Angeles
  28. Las Vegas
  29. Salt Lake City
  30. Denver
  31. Wichita
  32. Kansas City
  33. Louisville
  34. Charleston (inland)
  35. Virginia Beach
  36. Phoenix
  37. Albuquerque
  38. Oklahoma City
  39. Little Rock
  40. Nashville
  41. Charlotte
  42. Charleston (on the coast)
  43. Houston
  44. New Orleans
  45. Jackson
  46. Huntsville
  47. Atlanta
  48. Jacksonville
  49. Anchorage
  50. Honolulu

Drawn for this site from the U.S. Census Bureau 2023. Licence: public domain.

Each city is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a city is answered.

Next step Same map, next question: the 50 state capitalsSame map: find each state by name

All 50 cities on the diagram

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Northeast 9

  1. New York City Largest city of New York (8,804,190 people in 2020). Capital: Albany.
  2. Burlington Largest city of Vermont (44,743 people in 2020). Capital: Montpelier.
  3. Portland (in the East) Largest city of Maine (68,408 people in 2020). Capital: Augusta.
  4. Manchester Largest city of New Hampshire (115,644 people in 2020). Capital: Concord.
  5. Boston Largest city and capital of Massachusetts (675,647 people in 2020).
  6. Providence Largest city and capital of Rhode Island (190,934 people in 2020).
  7. Bridgeport Largest city of Connecticut (148,654 people in 2020). Capital: Hartford.
  8. Newark Largest city of New Jersey (311,549 people in 2020). Capital: Trenton.
  9. Philadelphia Largest city of Pennsylvania (1,603,797 people in 2020). Capital: Harrisburg.

Midwest 12

  1. Fargo Largest city of North Dakota (125,990 people in 2020). Capital: Bismarck.
  2. Minneapolis Largest city of Minnesota (429,954 people in 2020). Capital: Saint Paul.
  3. Milwaukee Largest city of Wisconsin (577,222 people in 2020). Capital: Madison.
  4. Detroit Largest city of Michigan (639,111 people in 2020). Capital: Lansing.
  5. Sioux Falls Largest city of South Dakota (192,517 people in 2020). Capital: Pierre.
  6. Omaha Largest city of Nebraska (486,051 people in 2020). Capital: Lincoln.
  7. Des Moines Largest city and capital of Iowa (214,133 people in 2020).
  8. Chicago Largest city of Illinois (2,746,388 people in 2020). Capital: Springfield.
  9. Indianapolis Largest city and capital of Indiana (887,642 people in 2020).
  10. Columbus Largest city and capital of Ohio (905,748 people in 2020).
  11. Wichita Largest city of Kansas (397,532 people in 2020). Capital: Topeka.
  12. Kansas City Largest city of Missouri (508,090 people in 2020). Capital: Jefferson City.

West 13

  1. Seattle Largest city of Washington (737,015 people in 2020). Capital: Olympia.
  2. Billings Largest city of Montana (117,116 people in 2020). Capital: Helena.
  3. Portland (in the West) Largest city of Oregon (652,503 people in 2020). Capital: Salem.
  4. Boise Largest city and capital of Idaho (235,684 people in 2020).
  5. Cheyenne Largest city and capital of Wyoming (65,132 people in 2020).
  6. Los Angeles Largest city of California (3,898,747 people in 2020). Capital: Sacramento.
  7. Las Vegas Largest city of Nevada (641,903 people in 2020). Capital: Carson City.
  8. Salt Lake City Largest city and capital of Utah (199,723 people in 2020).
  9. Denver Largest city and capital of Colorado (715,522 people in 2020).
  10. Phoenix Largest city and capital of Arizona (1,608,139 people in 2020).
  11. Albuquerque Largest city of New Mexico (564,559 people in 2020). Capital: Santa Fe.
  12. Anchorage Largest city of Alaska (291,247 people in 2020). Capital: Juneau.
  13. Honolulu Largest city and capital of Hawaii (350,964 people in 2020).

South 16

  1. Wilmington Largest city of Delaware (70,898 people in 2020). Capital: Dover.
  2. Baltimore Largest city of Maryland (585,708 people in 2020). Capital: Annapolis.
  3. Louisville Largest city of Kentucky (633,045 people in 2020). Capital: Frankfort.
  4. Charleston (inland) Largest city and capital of West Virginia (48,864 people in 2020).
  5. Virginia Beach Largest city of Virginia (459,470 people in 2020). Capital: Richmond.
  6. Oklahoma City Largest city and capital of Oklahoma (681,054 people in 2020).
  7. Little Rock Largest city and capital of Arkansas (202,591 people in 2020).
  8. Nashville Largest city and capital of Tennessee (689,447 people in 2020).
  9. Charlotte Largest city of North Carolina (874,579 people in 2020). Capital: Raleigh.
  10. Charleston (on the coast) Largest city of South Carolina (150,227 people in 2020). Capital: Columbia.
  11. Houston Largest city of Texas (2,304,580 people in 2020). Capital: Austin.
  12. New Orleans Largest city of Louisiana (383,997 people in 2020). Capital: Baton Rouge.
  13. Jackson Largest city and capital of Mississippi (153,701 people in 2020).
  14. Huntsville Largest city of Alabama (215,006 people in 2020). Capital: Montgomery.
  15. Atlanta Largest city and capital of Georgia (498,715 people in 2020).
  16. Jacksonville Largest city of Florida (949,611 people in 2020). Capital: Tallahassee.

How this list was compiled: The most populous city of each state and its 2020 census count: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census, table P1 for every place, https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALPL2020.P1?g=010XX00US$1600000, read by program on 2026-10-01. The Bureau's July 2025 estimates, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025.csv, name the same 50 cities. Second reading: Wikipedia, List of largest cities of U.S. states and territories by population, List of United States cities by population and List of capitals in the United States, read 2026-10-01. The 50 capitals were also read in an encyclopedia's list of state capitals, https://web.archive.org/web/20260913182437/https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-state-capitals-in-the-United-States-2119210. The map, the state points and the four Census Bureau regions are those of the state capitals quiz on this site. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site from the U.S. Census Bureau 2023 cartographic boundary file cb_2023_us_state_20m (scale 1:20,000,000), https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2023/kml/cb_2023_us_state_20m.zip, downloaded 2026-09-18. Albers equal-area conic projection. Alaska is drawn at 35 percent of the scale of the other states and, like Hawaii, moved into an inset. Small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (work of the United States government, 17 U.S.C. 105): https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2023/TGRSHP2023_TechDoc_Ch1.pdf

How it works

This largest cities in each state quiz lights one state at a time on a U.S. map. Pick its most populous city from four names. In 33 states that city is not the capital.

Read the full guide

How a round goes

A state lights up and you choose its largest city. A miss shows the right one. The end card lists up to six cities you missed, each with its state, its 2020 census count and the state capital. Rounds go by region: the Northeast first, then the Midwest, the West and the South.

A city and state quiz the other way

Open More options and choose Find it, or press Find them instead after a round. The page then names a city, such as Omaha, and you tap its state. Two names occur twice, so the prompt says which Portland or Charleston it means.

  • Print blank makes a numbered worksheet of the map. The print link beside it gives the answer key.

Questions and answers

What counts as the largest city in a state?

The city with the most people inside its own limits at the 2020 census, not its metro area. For Honolulu the census counts an area it calls Urban Honolulu.

In which states is the largest city also the capital?

Seventeen: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. In the other 33 the capital is a different city.

Which states have a largest city with the same name?

Portland is the largest city of both Maine and Oregon, and Charleston of both South Carolina and West Virginia. When you type an answer, the plain name counts for either state.

Which state has the smallest largest city?

Vermont. Burlington had 44,743 people at the 2020 census. Charleston, West Virginia, is next with 48,864. The biggest is New York City, with 8,804,190.

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