Below is a list of the top 200 Designated Market Areas (DMAs) and their Nielsen rankings for the 2022-2023 television season. Markets are ranked by population and change slightly each year based on regional growth or decline. Advertisers then use this data to target their campaigns to TV households by region.
Nielsen DMA Rankings (2023)

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

But 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.

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Tracy, here’s the link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_North_America_by_media_market
People are moving out of overpopulated cities
Were there any reliable sources to support this ranking list? I see the source is Wikipedia but when I opened it nothing was sited.