1951 - The Cities

1951 - The Cities


In 1951, only 10 American cities could boast Major League Baseball franchises. Sure there were 16 teams, but New York had 3 teams, and Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and St. Louis each had 2.

I was curious about the population of those great American cities in 1950 and how they grew during the second half of the 20th Century to become the cities that they are today. I found more than a few surprises.

It was no surprise that the Major League cities in 1950 were among the largest cities in the U.S. However, Los Angeles and San Francisco were ranked in there as well.

The smallest of the Major League cities was, and continues to be Cincinnati. In 1950, the city of Cincinnati, Ohio had a grand total of 504,000 inhabitants, compared to 7.9 million in the Big Apple and nearly 2 million in Los Angeles. By 2010, Cincinnati had declined to 297,000. However, the Cincinnati metropolitan area has more than doubled in that time, from 813,000 to 2.1 million residents.

The populations of the 10 Big League cities in 1950:
New York 7.9 million
Chicago 3.62 million
Philadelphia 2.1 million (Los Angeles had 1.97 million)
Detroit 1.85 million
Cleveland 915,000
St. Louis 857,000
Washington 802,000
Boston 801,000
Pittsburgh 677,000
Cincinnati 504,000

In the 60 years since the 1950 season, some of the cities have grown, as have all of the metropolitan areas of those cities. But many of the cities themselves have declined in population, some of them substantially.

The gainers, cities whose populations have grown since 1950:
New York – today the population is 8.175 million, a 3.5% growth since 1950.

Yes, surprisingly, of the cities with Major League teams in 1950, only one, New York has had the city’s population increase in 60 years, and even then only by 3.5%.

Not so surprising is the fact that both Los Angeles and San Francisco had their populations grow during those six decades; Los Angeles grew by more than 92% and San Francisco by about 4%.

The decliners – Big League cities whose populations declined between 1950 and 2010:
Chicago – down 25%
Philadelphia – down 27%
Detroit – down 61%
Cleveland – down 56%
St. Louis – down 62%
Washington – down 25%
Boston – down 23%
Pittsburgh – down 55%
Cincinnati – down 63%

That seems to be a pretty bleak report card for major cities in the U.S. However, when you look at the growth in their metropolitan areas, the picture is much brighter.

The metropolitan areas of all the major league cities grew mightily in the 60 years since 1950:
New York metro area grew by 75% from 1950 to 2010
Chicago metro area grew by 85%
Philadelphia metro area grew by 97%
Detroit metro area grew by (yes, even Detroit) 79%
Cleveland metro area grew by 97%
St. Louis metro area grew by 87%
Washington metro area grew by 546% (big surprise that DC has grown more than anywhere)
Boston metro area grew by 217%
Pittsburgh metro area grew by 75%
Cincinnati metro area grew by 158%

And Los Angeles metro area grew by 323% - Welcome to Hollywood!