Yonkers Is Now New York's 3rd-Largest City — by 241 People

For decades, Rochester held the title of New York’s third-largest city. The 2020 Census changed that: Yonkers counted 211,569 residents, edging out Rochester’s 211,328. That’s a gap of just 241 people.

New York's Largest Cities Outside NYC

Population, 2020 Census

A century of growth, a long plateau, then a surge

Yonkers grew fast in the first half of the 20th century, then boomed again after World War II — adding nearly 38,000 people in the 1950s alone. The city peaked at about 204,000 in 1970, then slowly lost residents for two decades as industry left and families moved further out.

From 1980 to 2010 the population barely moved. Then the 2010s brought the biggest decade of growth since the 1950s, a period that also saw new apartment buildings rise downtown and along the waterfront.

Yonkers Population, 1900–2020

Every decennial census count

The giant of Westchester

Inside Westchester County, Yonkers isn’t close to anyone. It has nearly as many residents as New Rochelle, Mount Vernon and White Plains combined, and roughly one in five Westchester residents lives here.

Westchester's Largest Cities

Population, 2020 Census

What comes next

Census Bureau estimates suggest Yonkers’ population dipped about 1.9% between 2020 and 2023, part of a pandemic-era decline seen in many cities around New York City. With the two cities separated by a few hundred people in 2020, the 2030 Census will decide who holds third place.