How Big Is New York City? Compare Its Size in Miles, Acres, Kilometers, and Population

It’s no secret that New York is one of the most densely populated cities in the United States. Not only is it the home of the Statue of Liberty, Time Square, and New York-style pizza, but it is often the center of business and the arts. With such a bustling city, one has to wonder how big is New York City.

If this has ever crossed your mind, then you’re not alone. With towering cityscapes and tiny apartments, many want to know how this city can support its population. To understand that, we need to look closer at how New York is laid out and how much land mass it has.

Below, we’ll take a closer look at NYC, its population, and how much land mass it has. We will also introduce different measurements of the city and compare it to other large cities across the globe. So, let’s get into it!

How Big Is New York City?

When we think about the Big Apple, we often believe it has a lot of land mass. However, if we look closer at its landscape, it’s pretty telling the city isn’t that big. While NYC does have a large population, almost 8.468 million people, it doesn’t have that much land mass. 

So, how does the city house so many people? Well, the city itself is only 302.6 square miles in land mass. With such little room for buildings, engineers had to get creative. The city is built with many towering skyscrapers, tall buildings, etc. That way, the city can still house many people without having the biggest land mass.

How Many Acres Is New York City?

Now that you know how big NYC is, let’s look at the size via acres. Acres are the most standard ways to measure land mass, especially when comparing cities. New York City is approximately 193,700 acres in total. 

One acre is around the size of a baseball field. So, NYC is around 193,700 football fields. While that sounds like the city is large, it’s not. Compared to other cities in the United States, this is very small.

How Many Square Miles (and KM) Is New York City?

The most common way to refer to distance measurements is in miles or kilometers. NYC is approximately 302.6 square miles. If we converted that to kilometers, the city would be around 830 square kilometers.

New York City Size Comparisons

Now that you have the city’s measurements, let’s look at how it compares to other major cities worldwide. NYC might be one of the most densely populated cities in the United States. Still, other cities are just as populated and big. Let’s take a look and compare NYC to other major cities located in the United States and around the globe.

How Big Is New York City Compared to London?

London is also another massive place, with over 9.648 million people. On the other hand, New York City has a population of 8.4 million. As you can see, NYC has almost the same amount as London. So, you’d think that it would be the bigger place via land mass.

That’s untrue. In fact, NYC is only 302.6 square miles, while London is 607 square miles. This means that London is nearly double the size of New York City via land mass.

How Big Is New York City Compared to Chicago?

The city of New York has a population of 8.468 million, while Chicago has 8.937 million. As you can see, New York has a much higher population.

If we look at Chicago, we can see that it spans around 231.7 square miles. On the other hand, New York spans 302.6 square miles. So, that means that New York is at least one-third bigger than Chicago.

To get a better idea, the state of New York is 54,556 square miles, while Illinois is 57,915 square miles. As you can see, the size of the states is quite similar. So, while the states are identical in size, the cities are not.

How Big Is New York City Compared to LA?

Large cities such as New York often get compared to Los Angeles. With New York being the most popular city on the east coast, Los Angeles is on the west. Los Angeles is approximately 502.7 square miles in land mass.

New York is only 231.7 square miles, which is drastically smaller. California has more land mass in general, as the state of New York is only 54,556 square miles, and California is 163,696 square miles. As you can see, California dwarfs New York, which has almost triple the total land mass.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/bloodua