Nielsen DMA Rankings (2022): Population Changes In The Top 200 Markets During COVID

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Below is a list of the top 200 Designated Market Areas (DMAs) along with their Nielsen rankings for the 2022-2023 television season. The rankings, based on population, shift slightly each year due to regional growth or decline. Advertisers use this data to strategically target TV households in specific regions.

Nielsen DMA Rankings (2022)

New York (#1)
Los Angeles (#2)
Chicago (#3)
Philadelphia (#4)
Dallas-Fort Worth (#5)
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose (#6)
Atlanta (#7)
Houston (#8)
Washington, D.C. (Hagerstown) (#9)
Boston (Manchester) (#10)
Phoenix (Prescott) (#11)
Seattle-Tacoma (#12)
Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota) (#13)
Minneapolis-St. Paul (#14)
Detroit (#15)
Denver (#16)
Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne (#17)
Miami-Fort Lauderdale (#18)
Cleveland-Akron (Canton) (#19)
Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto (#20)
Portland, OR (#21)
Charlotte (#22)
St. Louis (#23)
Raleigh-Durham (Fayetteville) (#24)
Indianapolis (#25)
Pittsburgh (#26)
San Diego (#27)
Baltimore (#28)
Nashville (#29)
Salt Lake City (#30)
San Antonio (#31)
Hartford & New Haven (#32)
Columbus, OH (#33)
Kansas City (#34)
Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville-Anderson (#35)
Cincinnati (#36)
Milwaukee (#37)
Austin (#38)
West Palm Beach-Fort Pierce (#39)
Las Vegas (#40)
Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek (#41)
Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York (#42)
Jacksonville (#43)
Oklahoma City (#44)
Birmingham (Anniston and Tuscaloosa) (#45)
Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News (#46)
Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem (#47)
Albuquerque-Santa Fe (#48)
Louisville (#49)
New Orleans (#50)
Memphis (#51)
Providence-New Bedford (#52)
Buffalo (#53)
Fort Myers-Naples (#54)
Fresno-Visalia (#55)
Richmond-Petersburg (#56)
Mobile-Pensacola (Fort Walton Beach) (#57)
Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hazleton (#58)
Little Rock-Pine Bluff (#59)
Albany-Schenectady-Troy (#60)
Tulsa (#61)
Knoxville (#62)
Lexington (#63)
Tucson (Sierra Vista) (#64)
Dayton (#65)
Spokane (#66)
Honolulu (#67)
Des Moines-Ames (#68)
Green Bay-Appleton (#69)
Wichita-Hutchinson Plus (#70)
Roanoke-Lynchburg (#71)
Omaha (#72)
Flint-Saginaw-Bay City (#73)
Springfield, MO (#74)
Charleston-Huntington (#75)
Columbia, SC (#76)
Rochester, NY (#77)
Portland-Auburn (#78)
Huntsville-Decatur (Florence) (#79)
Toledo (#80)
Madison (#81)
Colorado Springs-Pueblo (#82)
Waco-Temple-Bryan (#83)
Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg (#84)
Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen (#85)
Shreveport-Texarkana (#86)
Syracuse (#87)
Chattanooga (#88)
Charleston, SC (#89)
Champaign & Springfield-Decatur (#90)
Savannah (#91)
Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Iowa City & Dubuque (#92)
El Paso (Las Cruces) (#93)
Baton Rouge (#94)
Fort Smith-Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers (#95)
Burlington-Plattsburgh (#96)
Jackson, MS (#97)
South Bend-Elkhart (#98)
Myrtle Beach-Florence (#99)
Tri-Cities, TN-VA (#100)
Boise (#101)
Greenville-New Bern-Washington (#102)
Davenport-Rock Island-Moline (#103)
Reno (#104)
Lincoln & Hastings-Kearney (#105)
Evansville (#106)
Johnstown-Altoona-State College (#107)
Tallahassee-Thomasville (#108)
Sioux Falls (Mitchell) (#109)
Tyler-Longview (Lufkin & Nacogdoches) (#110)
Fort Wayne (#111)
Augusta-Aiken (#112)
Eugene (#113)
Fargo (#114)
Lansing (#115)
Springfield-Holyoke (#116)
Yakima-Pasco-Richland-Kennewick (#117)
Traverse City-Cadillac (#118)
Youngstown (#119)
Macon (#120)
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo (#121)
Lafayette, LA (#122)
Peoria-Bloomington (#123)
Monterey-Salinas (#124)
Bakersfield (#125)
Montgomery-Selma (#126)
Columbus, GA (#127)
Wilmington, NC (#128)
La Crosse-Eau Claire (#129)
Corpus Christi (#130)
Amarillo (#131)
Chico-Redding (#132)
Columbus-Tupelo-West Point-Houston (#133)
Medford-Klamath Falls (#134)
Columbia-Jefferson City (#135)
Wausau-Rhinelander (#136)
Salisbury (#137)
Odessa-Midland (#138)
Rockford (#139)
Duluth-Superior (#140)
Minot-Bismarck-Dickinson (Williston) (#141)
Topeka (#142)
Monroe-El Dorado (#143)
Beaumont-Port Arthur (#144)
Lubbock (#145)
Palm Springs (#146)
Anchorage (#147)
Sioux City (#148)
Wichita Falls & Lawton (#149)
Rochester-Mason City-Austin (#150)
Erie (#151)
Joplin-Pittsburg (#152)
Panama City (#153)
Albany, GA (#154)
Bangor (#155)
Terre Haute (#156)
Biloxi-Gulfport (#157)
Idaho Falls-Pocatello (Jackson) (#158)
Sherman-Ada (#159)
Gainesville (#160)
Missoula (#161)
Binghamton (#162)
Wheeling-Steubenville (#163)
Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill (#164)
Abilene-Sweetwater (#165)
Yuma-El Centro (#166)
Billings (#167)
Hattiesburg-Laurel (#168)
Rapid City (#169)
Clarksburg-Weston (#170)
Utica (#171)
Dothan (#172)
Lake Charles (#173)
Quincy-Hannibal-Keokuk (#174)
Jackson, TN (#175)
Harrisonburg (#176)
Charlottesville (#177)
Elmira (Corning) (#178)
Bowling Green (#179)
Watertown (#180)
Alexandria, LA (#181)
Jonesboro (#182)
Marquette (#183)
Bend, OR (#184)
Butte-Bozeman (#185)
Laredo (#186)
Grand Junction-Montrose (#187)
Lafayette, IN (#188)
Twin Falls (#189)
Lima (#190)
Meridian (#191)
Great Falls (#192)
Eureka (#193)
Parkersburg (#194)
Cheyenne-Scottsbluff (#195)
Greenwood-Greenville (#196)
San Angelo (#197)
Casper-Riverton (#198)
Mankato (#199)
Ottumwa-Kirksville (#200)

Source: Wikipedia

The Impact Of COVID On DMA Size

COVID had a dramatic impact on regional populations. As the world went into a state of COVID lockdown, urban families were trapped at home. Without enough space for both adults and kids to work from home remotely, they began searching for new jobs and places to live. This accelerated the dispersion of people across the United States and created housing booms.

Big cities like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose, Boston, Cleveland, and Seattle all had substantial population losses during COVID. New York City alone lost over -300,000 people between 2020-2021. But even with loses this big, these large metros mostly stayed stable in Nielsen DMA Rankings post-COVID.

Big Cities Saw Historic Population Losses While Suburban Growth Declined During The Pandemic — Via Bookings

Smaller cities, like Raleigh, NC and Salt Lake City, UT saw significant growth during COVID. More affordable and less populated, these cities had a lot more to offer stressed families trying to navigate the pandemic.

Did you move during COVID? Where did you move from? Where did you go? Let us know in the comments.