[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

it all depends on how you slice and dice things.



by Urban Area (2010):

cleveland: 1,780,673
cincinnati: 1,624,827
columbus: 1,368,035

(as the fastest growing of the 3, columbus has almost certainly closed this gap a bit over the past 9 years)




by MSA (2018):

cincinnati: 2,190,209
columbus: 2,106,541
cleveland: 2,057,009



by CSA (2018):

cleveland: 3,599,264
columbus: 2,509,850
cincinnati: 2,272,152



cincy is either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd depending on metric.

in reality, these three cities are all extremely comparable to each other size-wise, which is pretty remarkable.

cleveland only jumps way ahead at the CSA level because it pulls in Akron and Canton, roughly 30 and 50 miles south of the city.

i can't think of another state whose 3 alpha cities are all that closely bunched together size-wise at the MSA level.

South Carolina, on a smaller scale:

By city limits (2018):

Charleston: 136,208
Columbia: 133,451
Greenville: 68,563


By urban area (2010):

Columbia: 549,777
Charleston: 548,404
Greenville: 400,492


By MSA (2018):

Greenville: 906,626
Columbia: 832,666
Charleston: 787,643


By CSA (2018):

Greenville: 1,478,658
Columbia: 958,120
Charleston: 784,376

Like Cleveland, Greenville jumps far ahead on CSA because of the addition of Spartanburg. Funnily enough, Myrtle Beach is catching up fast to the other three.