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Mapped: America’s Most Common City Names
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The U.S. Census Bureau collects a wealth of information about America. However, with a little digging through their 2023 population tables, it’s also possible to sort out repeating city names across the country and see how many are an exact match.
Here’s a map and list of the most commonly named cities in America.
Importantly, this only includes places incorporated as cities that have at least 20,000 residents and share exact matching names (five each).
Thus, names like Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids would not count for “Cedar.” This list also excludes prefixes such as St., Los, San, etc.
The Simpsons Live in Springfield for a Reason
Springfield and Columbus are the two most common city names for incorporated places with at least 20,000 residents.
Here’s a list of the other most common names and which states the cities can be found in.
| Rank | City Name | Cities (More than 20K Residents) |
States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1T | Springfield | 5 | Massachusetts, Missouri, Illinois, Oregon, Ohio |
| 1T | Columbus | 5 | Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Nebraska, Mississippi |
| 2T | Auburn | 4 | Alabama, Maine, New York, Washington |
| 2T | Newark | 4 | California, Delaware, New Jersey, Ohio |
| 2T | Richmond | 4 | California, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia |
| 2T | Lancaster | 4 | California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas |
| 2T | Lakewood | 4 | California, Colorado, Ohio, Washington |
| 2T | Lafayette | 4 | California, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana |
| 2T | Albany | 4 | California, Georgia, New York, Oregon |
| 2T | Greenville | 4 | Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas |
| 2T | Monroe | 4 | Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Washington |
Springfield, Massachusetts was founded in 1636, named after an Essex town in England. Since then, more than 30 places in America have been named Springfield, and its ubiquity resulted in it being picked as the Simpsons’ hometown.
However, only four other Springfields are incorporated and have at least 20,000 residents. They can be found in Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon. West Springfield, Massachusetts doesn’t make the cut since it isn’t an exact match.
Meanwhile, Columbus, Ohio, is the oldest (and largest) city with that name, founded in 1812. Interestingly, Columbus, Indiana, was named after Columbus, Ohio, as its settlers originally came from there.
Finally, according to the U.S. Postal Service, Franklin (after Benjamin Franklin) is the most common city name for all population sizes.
In fact, Franklin would have made this list as well had it not been for the Town of Franklin in Massachusetts. The official name prevents it from being an exact match with the three other Franklins in Indiana, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
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