Urban population, total in United States

United States: Urban population, total was 0.8% in 2018. ▲ Rising

Latest (2018)
0.8%
Change on year
up 0.3%
World rank
14th
of 102 countries
All-time high
0.8%
in 2018
All-time low
0.6%
in 1970
Years of data
14
1970–2018

Urban population, total in United States, 1970–2018

00.20.40.60.81970199420181970: 0.608 % of total population1980: 0.688 % of total population1990: 0.701 % of total population2000: 0.763 % of total population2005: 0.768 % of total population2010: 0.77 % of total population2011: 0.808 % of total population2012: 0.811 % of total population2013: 0.811 % of total population2014: 0.815 % of total population2015: 0.821 % of total population2016: 0.824 % of total population2017: 0.824 % of total population2018: 0.827 % of total population

Source: World Bank. Measured in % of total population.

Analysis

United States recorded 0.8% for urban population, total in 2018. That is the highest value across all 14 years on record.

The figure is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 7.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, urban population, total in United States peaked at 0.8% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 0.6%, in 1970.

United States ranks 14th of 102 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.

Urban population, total in United States, year by year

Annual values for Urban population, total (% of total population) in United States, 1970 to 2018.
Year % of total population Change
1970 0.6%
1980 0.7% +13.2%
1990 0.7% +1.9%
2000 0.8% +8.8%
2005 0.8% +0.7%
2010 0.8% +0.4%
2011 0.8% +4.8%
2012 0.8% +0.4%
2013 0.8% +0.1%
2014 0.8% +0.4%
2015 0.8% +0.8%
2016 0.8% +0.2%
2017 0.8% +0.1%
2018 0.8% +0.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 0.6% 0.6% 0.6% 1
1980s 0.7% 0.7% 0.7% 1
1990s 0.7% 0.7% 0.7% 1
2000s 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 2
2010s 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 9

Countries ranked near United States

  1. 11 United Kingdom 0.9% compare
  2. 12 Iceland 0.8% compare
  3. 13 Mongolia 0.8% compare
  4. 15 Korea 0.8% compare
  5. 16 Belgium 0.8% compare
  6. 17 Palestine, State of 0.8% compare

See the full ranking of 102 places →

More reference data data for United States

All data for United States →

Frequently asked questions

What is urban population, total in United States?
Urban population, total in United States was 0.8% in 2018, according to the World Bank.
What is the highest urban population, total recorded in United States?
The highest recorded value was 0.8% in 2018.
What is the lowest urban population, total recorded in United States?
The lowest recorded value was 0.6% in 1970.
How does United States rank for urban population, total?
United States ranks 14th out of 102 countries with data for 2018.
Is urban population, total rising or falling in United States?
Over the last ten years it is up 7.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this United States data come from?
The figures come from the World Bank, published as part of Urban population, total (% of total population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Urban population, total in United States. Statizoid. Retrieved 23 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/urban-population-total-percent-of-total-population/united-states/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/urban-population-total-percent-of-total-population/united-states/">Urban population, total in United States</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Urban population, total (% of total population)
Unit
% of total population
Source
World Bank
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
102 places, 1,472 data points, 1970–2021
Last refreshed