New York, NY
– Population change: 645,716 increase (+8%)
– 2016 population: 8,537,673
– 1950 population: 7,891,957
Millions of immigrants from 1892 to 1954 made their way through Ellis Island in New York Harbor. Later in the 20th century, the city was marred by crime and gangs—but the Wall Street boom and construction of improved infrastructure in the 1990s helped increase the Big Apple’s population.