The Bay Area as a whole may be one of the most densely populated places in California, but no city in the region has passed the 1 million residents mark … yet. According to the latest census results, San Jose is still the third largest city in the state (behind Los Angeles and San Diego) and the 10th most populous city in the country. It is also the only one of the top 10 cities with a population of under 1 million. The number nine spot is held by Dallas, with 1,299,542 people. San Jose, in contrast, has 964,695 residents.
On the other hand, the numbers aren’t really fair. Dallas has its Fort Worth, which, with 727,577 people, ranks 17th among most populous cities. San Jose, in turn, also has Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and Palo Alto, which up the population considerably. The total metropolitan population is 1,538,312.
The problem is that this would rank San Jose 24th in the nation, even behind (gasp!) San Francisco. With Oakland and all the other neighboring towns, it comes in 12th, with 3,228,605 people. By itself, however, San Francisco has just 805,235 residents. With its current population, the San Jose Metropolitan Area is sandwiched between Portland and Riverside-San Bernardino.
So when will San Jose join the Million People Club? It may not be for a while. The population has grown by 5.7 percent since the last census (50,999 people). If it continues growing at this rate, it will be just under 1 million (996,941) by the time the next census results arrive 2020. It may take until 2021 before the city hits the million mark. Until then, we are destined to remain the little city that thinks big.
