According to NewGeography, ~85% of the population in the 53 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. lives in the suburbs or the exurbs. (Data from 2011-2015.) And according to some definitions, a number of these cities could be classified as being 100% suburban.
NewGeography recently looked at America’s most suburbanized cities using the “City Sector Model” of classification. Here’s generally how it works:
Urban core-CBD: Employment density > 19,999 people per square mile
Urban core-inner ring: Population density > 7,499 per square mile and > 19.9% transit/walk/bike modal split
Earlier suburb: Not urban core or exurb, and median year house built before 1980
Later suburb: Not urban core or exurb, and median year house built after 1979
Exurb: Outside of 2010 principal urban area or under 250 people per square mile
Based on the above criteria, here are the top 10 most suburban cities in America:
All of these cities have virtually no urban core. To break the 10 way tie, they were simply sorted based on the size of their exurban population. To see all 53 metropolitan areas, click here.