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U.S. States by Second Most Populous City

Can you guess these thirty states based on their second biggest city?
By city proper population, not metro area. 2022 census estimates.
Quiz by Jarl5
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Last updated: May 29, 2023
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First submittedApril 22, 2017
Times taken36,213
Average score70.0%
Rating4.40
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City
Population
State
San Antonio
1,472,909
Texas
San Diego
1,381,162
California
Tucson
546,574
Arizona
Raleigh
476,587
North Carolina
Cleveland
361,607
Ohio
Lexington
320,347
Kentucky
St. Paul
303,176
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
302,898
Pennsylvania
Buffalo
276,486
New York
Madison
272,903
Wisconsin
Fort Wayne
267,927
Indiana
Spokane
230,160
Washington
Baton Rouge
221,453
Louisiana
Columbus
202,616
Georgia
Overland Park
197,726
Kansas
City
Population
State
Montgomery
196,986
Alabama
Grand Rapids
196,908
Michigan
New Haven
138,915
Connecticut
West Valley City
136,650
Utah
Cedar Rapids
136,429
Iowa
Meridian
129,736
Idaho
Las Cruces
113,888
New Mexico
Nashua
91,161
New Hampshire
Warwick
83,016
Rhode Island
Rapid City
78,824
South Dakota
Missoula
76,955
Montana
Gulfport
72,236
Mississippi
Casper
58,543
Wyoming
Lewiston
38,493
Maine
Fairbanks
32,107
Alaska
+4
Level 66
May 27, 2017
Congrats on first featured quiz!
+2
Level 68
May 27, 2017
Thanks!
+3
Level 90
Jun 7, 2017
As of the last official census (2010), Meridian is still the third highest population in the state. Estimates should not count.
+4
Level 68
Jun 7, 2017
Source? Qm thought it was okay so I will probably leave it in unless he says otherwise.
+12
Level 20
Jan 26, 2018
dude... chill.....
+7
Level 88
Jun 8, 2017
Fun quiz, but why not have all 50 states represented?
+9
Level 68
Jun 8, 2017
Then you would just be able to guess any state you were missing. Also it originally had 50 but I didn't know what the yellow box was at the time so I deleted half of them.
+2
Level 59
Apr 20, 2020
You can always repost the quiz with the rest of the states and wait for the QM to approve it.
+1
Level 20
Jan 26, 2018
come on, bruh!
+2
Level 76
Mar 5, 2020
And also, some would be really obvious like "Colorado Springs"
+6
Level 88
Jun 16, 2020
So? Some are already obvious, like "San Diego." It doesn't hurt to have a few easy answers.
+2
Level 59
Jul 17, 2020
Not really the same thing. Colorado Springs literally has "Colorado" in its name. San Diego may be well-known, but it doesn't have "California" in its name.
+3
Level 74
May 30, 2023
Kansas City is the biggest city in ..... As a person from outside of the USA this one always baffles me :)
+1
Level 45
Feb 16, 2023
Same with Jersey City
+4
Level 70
Jun 16, 2020
I actually kinda dig that it's not all 50. It somewhat curbs the ability to use the process of elimination.
+7
Level 68
Jun 23, 2017
Hello from the Front Page of Jetpunk! Thanks for taking the time to play my quiz. It would be amazing if you could check out my other quizzes, I put a lot of effort into them. Thanks so much and have an amazing day!
+2
Level 64
Jun 23, 2017
I would recommend that the populations of Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio be analyzed. Houston has been the fourth-largest city in the US. Dallas and Fort Worth are catching up in population and have more residents than San Antonio. Austin might be examined too since we've been having a population boom in Central Texas.
+4
Level 90
Jun 23, 2017
In terms of city proper San Antonio passed Dallas between the 2000 and 2010 census. The DFW metropolitan area is about 3 times that of San Antonio's but less than 20% percent of the population is in Dallas and less than 15% is in Fort Worth. Conversely about 80% of the San Antonio metro area lives in the actual city limits. Although Austin has grown a lot in the past 20 years, a lot of the growth has been outside the city limits.
+4
Level 47
Jun 23, 2017
Why wouldn't you do all 50 states?
+1
Level 68
Jun 23, 2017
Because then you could just guess any state you were missing if you only had a few left.
+2
Level 75
Jun 16, 2020
I did that anyway. I didn't know the two least guessed and I just started typing random states. I'm another one who would prefer to see 50 on this quiz, because it's fun and the more the merrier!
+1
Level 58
Jun 23, 2017
Man this quiz drove me insane. I only got 11/30. I'd heard of most of these cities, but couldn't remember which states they were in for some reason.
+1
Level 68
Jun 23, 2017
It's tough for sure! After I made this quiz I took it and still missed two!
+1
Level 59
Jun 23, 2017
Good stuff! Didn't know too many (I'm not American, and a lot of these places aren't that familiar to many non-Americans) but always good to learn new stuff.
+1
Level 68
Jun 23, 2017
I agree. Thanks for the feedback!
+1
Level 90
Jun 23, 2017
Really liked the quiz. I would thing the opposite quiz would be infinitely harder, where you are given the state and have to guess the second largest city. 10 to 15 of the cities would not have been my first or second guess. In the current format Aurora and Meridian were the only ones that I didn't know immediately and that was because I kept wanting to put Colorado and Mississippi.
+1
Level 75
Jun 23, 2017
I did the same thing with Aurora and Meridian, but as they were the only two I was missing it was easy to just guess the states which were still missing from the list.
+1
Level 68
Jun 23, 2017
Thanks! I could make that one eventually. Doubt it would get featured though.
+2
Level 71
Jun 23, 2017
Whole lotta rapids.
+1
Level 68
Jun 23, 2017
I noticed that too.
+1
Level 36
Jun 23, 2017
I got Aurora right - but only because of Wayne's World! Plus, I didn't think that Aurora was the 2nd biggest in Illinois. I guess maybe I thought it would be Springfield or Champaign-Urbana
+1
Level 68
Jun 24, 2017
You learn something new every day!
+1
Level 73
Jul 29, 2022
Every time I see Aurora, my brain involuntarily plays in my head a commercial for the casino in Aurora that took a Sinatra song and changed the lyrics to lines like, "Aurora, Aurora, that Hollywood town..."

The ads were so ubiquitous that the NY Times used them for a lede to this article about casino gambling in Illinois:

https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/03/business/in-a-bid-for-casinos-chicago-comes-up-with-snake-eyes.html

+2
Level 65
Jun 24, 2017
Good quiz. 13/30. Not bad for a Brit....Smiled at the mention of Rapid City....30 years ago this summer did east to west and back again on the greyhound and remember being marooned in the bus station there one night!
+1
Level 68
Jun 24, 2017
Wow! How long did that take? I would love to travel like that some day.
+1
Level 65
Jun 24, 2017
Five weeks: NYC, Niagra, Chicago, Minneapolis (for some reason), Yellowstone, San Fran, San Diego, Las V, Grand Canyon, San Antonio, New Orleans, Orlando, Charleston, NYC! Was amazing. Thanks for the quiz mate
+1
Level 68
Jun 24, 2017
Sounds super fun. Thanks for playing my quiz!
+2
Level 84
Apr 9, 2018
"Minneapolis (for some reason)"?? Hey now, Mpls is awesome! Not sure about 30 years ago, probably not as good, but is a great city. :-)
+1
Level 40
Jun 26, 2022
Do not dis Minneapolis. It's like, the best city in America, IMHO.
+1
Level 53
Jun 24, 2017
Great quiz! Really forced me to think!
+1
Level 68
Jun 25, 2017
Thanks! Yep it does that to you. I didn't even get 100% the first time I played it!
+1
Level 79
Jun 28, 2017
Got Vermont with 0:02 seconds to spare. I had no idea on some so just guessed and happened to get them right but had to go through 10 states before getting Vermont.
+1
Level 68
Jun 28, 2017
Nice job!
+1
Level 39
Jul 15, 2017
Happy Birthday!!!!
+1
Level 68
Jul 16, 2017
Thanks so much!
+1
Level 39
Jul 16, 2017
Your Welcome!
+1
Level 52
Jul 18, 2017
"Warwick"

I typed in: Saupold.

+1
Level 68
Jul 18, 2017
I can't say I get that reference, but thanks for taking the quiz!
+2
Level 49
Oct 20, 2017
Just missed Lewiston. Also, there is a Lewiston here in Idaho, where I silently weep as my hometown is the least guessed city.
+1
Level 44
Feb 24, 2018
I actually knew that one, was one of 19% who got it haha
+1
Level 68
Jun 16, 2020
Idaho was my guess for Lewiston. Somehow I've never heard of Meridian, but looking at the map I know I've been through there many times. I think it's just close enough to Boise, that people driving through just refer to the whole area as Boise. :(
+2
Level 82
Mar 3, 2019
This was much more difficult than I anticipated.
+1
Level 40
Oct 26, 2019
8/30 lol
+1
Level 66
Jun 16, 2020
I could’ve sworn that Warwick was bigger than Cranston. Still got 30/30 though.
+2
Level 59
Jun 16, 2020
Could you do an opposite of this quiz?
+1
Level 75
Jul 22, 2023
Second smallest village in every state? Sounds tricky...
+1
Level 48
Jun 16, 2020
Opposite of this quiz would be great with all 50 states
+1
Level 77
Jun 20, 2020
As a native of Meridian, I'm stoked to see it used in a quiz. And just so that everyone knows, Meridian is only getting bigger as California pours into it more and more daily.
+1
Level 39
Jun 20, 2020
I always assumed Santa Fe was the second biggest in NM... huh
+1
Level 27
Dec 31, 2020
Have to admit searching for Meridian on the web. Did not have a clue it being in Idaho.
+2
Level 76
Feb 19, 2021
Lol I only knew Aurora because I love Wayne’s World
+5
Level 77
Aug 4, 2021
This quiz was really easy...until it got super hard.
+4
Level 66
Oct 25, 2022
Oh good, it wasn't just me who hit a brick wall
+1
Level 66
Oct 25, 2022
That was fun, ty
+1
Level 67
Jun 4, 2023
Sad Maryland wasn't on here :(
+2
Level 73
Jul 14, 2023
These quizzes are always teaching me new cities I've never heard of. TIL West Valley City, Utah and Meridian, Idaho.
+1
Level 44
Mar 24, 2024
West Valley City is just Utahs "ghetto".
+1
Level 75
Jul 22, 2023
9/30, and I got two of those by just guessing the name until it came out correct. A fully well-deserved 0 points :)
+1
Level 48
Jul 22, 2023
3/30 Please, make a most populous city version for ignorant Europeans :)
+1
Level 51
Jul 25, 2023
No Florida ? 🥲
+1
Level 65
Jul 26, 2023
I believe the purpose is to both reduce process of elimination, but also not include extremely obvious answers, like Miami
+1
Level 72
Oct 7, 2023
I had no idea that there were so many Lexingtons in the USA; having typed massachusetts a couple of times, I think I must have typed all the states that have one except the right answer.
+2
Level 59
Nov 22, 2023
Really hoped my home city of Charleston would have made the list, as Columbia in South Carolina is first.