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This is a listing, by rank, of the population of the Metropolitan Areas of all the cities that have teams in the National Hockey League. All populations are  2016 Census (Canada) and 2018 estimates (United States).

Two metropolitan areas have more than one team. New York City (which includes Newark) has three - New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and the New Jersey Devils. Los Angeles has two - Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks.


As both countries use different methodology to compile Metropolitian area populations, they are listed seperately.  However, the Canadian CSA is similar to the American MSA for comparison purposes.

United States[]

The United States uses two systems to measure population in a region. The Metropolitian Statistical Area is the area encompassing a large city and the urban areas around it (for example Boston and the surrounding suburbs). The Combined Statistical Area is a combonation of the adjacent Metropolitian Statistical Areas in a region (for example Boston and the adjacent areas of Providence, Rhode Island, Worcester, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire).

City CSA Population
(2018 Estimate)
CSA Rank MSA Population
(2018 Estimate)
MSA Rank
New York/Newark 22,679,948 1 19,979,477 1
Los Angeles/Anaheim 18,764,814 2 13,291,486 2
Chicago 9,866,910 3 9,498,716 3
Dallas 7,957,493 7 7,539,711 4
Washington 9,778,360 4 6,249,950 6
Miami 6,913,262 10 6,198,782 7
Philadelphia 7,204,035 8 6,096,372 8
Boston 8,285,407 6 4,875,390 10
Phoenix 4,911,851 13 4,857,962 11
Detroit 5,353,002 12 4,326,442 14
Seattle 4,853,364 14 3,939,363 15
St. Paul 4,014,593 16 3,629,190 16
Tampa 3,142,663 * 3,142,663 18
Denver 3,572,798 18 2,932,415 19
St. Louis 2,909,777 20 2,805,465 20
Pittsburgh 2,612,492 23 2,324,743 27
Las Vegas 2,276,993 29 2,231,647 28
Columbus 2,509,850 26 2,106,541 32
San Jose 9,666,055 5 1,999,107 35
Nashville 2,057,416 32 1,930,961 36
Raleigh 2,238,315 31 1,362,540 42
Buffalo 1,206,992 47 1,130,152 50

Notes:

  1. Tampa is not part of a larger Combined Statistical Area, thus the Metropolitan Statistical Data is used and Tampa is not figured in the rating for CSA ranking.
  2. The Windsor, Ontario area would be included in the population for the Detroit area if it were in the United States, which would add 329,144 according to the 2016 Census.
  3. Buffalo could also include the area along the Golden Horseshoe, which is an area the Buffalo Sabres have traditionally drawn from as well as the Greater Toronto Area due to the scarcity of tickets for Toronto Maple Leafs home games.
  4. Seattle could include some areas of the southern Tip of Vancouver Island, which is adjacent Puget Sound which is the considered the edge of Seattle's CSA which are not counted above.

Canada[]

Canada uses one system to measure but has two classifications Census Metropolitan Area for larger metropolitan areas and Census Agglomeration for what tend to be smaller more isolated areas. All of the NHL cities are considered CMA's

City CMA Population
(2016 Census)
CMA Rank Rank if in US(*) Notes
Toronto 5,928,040 1 10th larger area includes Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe area
Montreal 4,098,927 2 15th made up mostly of what is called the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC)
Vancouver 2,463,431 3 26th does not include Victoria on Vancouver Island
Calgary 1,392,609 4 42nd
Ottawa 1,323,783 5 44th area includes Gatineau
Edmonton 1,321,426 6 44th
Winnipeg 778,489 8 75th

(*)-Excluding other Canadian cities

Balance of Top 10 Census Metropolitan Areas[]

Remaining Census Metropolitan Area/Census Agglomeration areas by Province/Territory[]

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