List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population

The following list sorts all cities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia with a population of more than 50,000.[1] As of 15 May 2022, 76 cities fulfill this criterion and are listed here. This list refers only to the population of individual municipalities within their defined limits, which does not include other municipalities or suburban areas within urban agglomerations.

List

Largest cities in North Rhine-Westphalia
Cologne
Cologne
Düsseldorf
Essen
Duisburg
Bochum
Bielefeld
Bonn
Aachen

The following table lists the 76 cities in North Rhine Westphalia with a population of at least 50,000 on 15 May 2022, as estimated by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany.[2] A city is displayed in bold if it is a state or federal capital.

  1. The city rank by population as of 15 May 2022, as estimated by the Federal Statistical Office of German[2]
  2. The city name[2]
  3. The name of the district (Landkreis) in which the city lies (some cities are districts on their own called urban districts)[2]
  4. The city population as of 15 May 2022, as estimated by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany[2]
  5. The city population as of 9 May 2011, as enumerated by the 2011 European Union census[3]
  6. The city land area as of 15 May 2022[2]
  7. The city population density as of 15 May 2022 (residents per unit of land area)[2]
  8. Yearly population growth between 2011 and 2022
2022
Rank
Citydistrict2022 Census2011 Census2022 land area2022 pop. densityannual growth
(2011–2022)
1Cologneurban district1,017,3551,005,775405 km²2,512/km²0.10%
2Düsseldorfurban district611,258586,291217 km²2,812/km²0.38%
3Dortmundurban district598,246571,143281 km²2,131/km²0.42%
4Essenurban district571,039566,201210 km²2,715/km²0.08%
5Duisburgurban district501,415488,468233 km²2,154/km²0.24%
6Wuppertalurban district356,768342,661168 km²2,119/km²0.37%
7Bochumurban district354,288362,286146 km²2,432/km²-0.20%
8Bielefeldurban district330,072326,870259 km²1,275/km²0.09%
9Bonnurban district321,544305,765141 km²2,279/km²0.46%
10Münsterurban district303,772289,576303 km²1,002/km²0.44%
11Gelsenkirchenurban district264,130258,766105 km²2,517/km²0.19%
12Mönchengladbachurban district264,089255,188170 km²1,549/km²0.31%
13AachenAachen261,178236,420161 km²1,624/km²0.91%
14Krefeldurban district230,666222,247138 km²1,674/km²0.34%
15Oberhausenurban district212,127210,21677.1 km²2,752/km²0.08%
16Hagenurban district189,614187,944160 km²1,182/km²0.08%
17Hammurban district179,070176,037226 km²790.9/km²0.16%
18Mülheim an der Ruhrurban district171,435166,86591.3 km²1,878/km²0.25%
19Leverkusenurban district166,356158,98478.9 km²2,109/km²0.41%
20Solingenurban district164,621155,26589.5 km²1,839/km²0.53%
21PaderbornPaderborn155,516142,365180 km²866.0/km²0.81%
22Herneurban district155,446155,16051.4 km²3,023/km²0.02%
23NeussRhein-Kreis Neuss153,079150,56899.5 km²1,538/km²0.15%
24Bottropurban district117,921117,311101 km²1,172/km²0.05%
25RecklinghausenRecklinghausen115,216115,95866.5 km²1,733/km²-0.06%
26Remscheidurban district113,743110,70874.5 km²1,526/km²0.25%
27Bergisch GladbachRheinisch-Bergischer Kreis110,898108,87883.1 km²1,335/km²0.17%
28SiegenSiegen-Wittgenstein102,27599,187115 km²891.8/km²0.28%
29MoersWesel100,465104,00967.7 km²1,484/km²-0.31%
30GüterslohGütersloh99,34494,172112 km²886.8/km²0.49%
31DürenDüren94,14988,78985.0 km²1,108/km²0.53%
32IserlohnMärkischer Kreis91,94194,630125 km²732.7/km²-0.26%
33WittenEnnepe-Ruhr-Kreis91,73596,38272.4 km²1,267/km²-0.45%
34RatingenMettmann88,42586,96788.7 km²996.5/km²0.15%
35MarlRecklinghausen85,68484,78287.8 km²976.5/km²0.10%
36LünenUnna85,23486,01059.4 km²1,435/km²-0.08%
37MindenMinden-Lübbecke83,74380,121101 km²828.2/km²0.40%
38VelbertMettmann82,31981,30374.9 km²1,099/km²0.11%
39RheineSteinfurt76,34472,749145 km²526.5/km²0.44%
40ViersenViersen76,14674,94191.1 km²835.9/km²0.14%
41GladbeckRecklinghausen75,51573,97436.0 km²2,100/km²0.19%
42TroisdorfRhein-Sieg-Kreis75,33572,40862.0 km²1,215/km²0.36%
43ArnsbergHochsauerlandkreis74,86174,383194 km²386.4/km²0.06%
44DetmoldLippe74,48673,743129 km²575.7/km²0.09%
45DorstenRecklinghausen74,25776,860171 km²433.5/km²-0.31%
46Castrop-RauxelRecklinghausen72,83974,62951.7 km²1,409/km²-0.22%
47BocholtRhein-Sieg-Kreis71,98571,256119 km²602.9/km²0.09%
48LüdenscheidMärkischer Kreis71,68873,76287.0 km²823.8/km²-0.26%
49LippstadtSoest68,10065,886114 km²599.0/km²0.30%
50HerfordHerford66,98565,21379.2 km²846.3/km²0.24%
51DinslakenWesel66,60667,85347.7 km²1,398/km²-0.17%
52KerpenRhein-Erft-Kreis65,76363,273114 km²577.1/km²0.35%
53GrevenbroichRhein-Kreis Neuss65,23061,741102 km²636.9/km²0.50%
54DormagenRhein-Kreis Neuss64,25962,20885.5 km²751.6/km²0.29%
55BergheimRhein-Erft-Kreis61,44958,92296.3 km²637.8/km²0.38%
56HürthRhein-Erft-Kreis61,20955,08251.2 km²1,195/km²0.96%
57HertenRecklinghausen61,06261,50537.3 km²1,636/km²-0.07%
58WeselWesel59,98860,335123 km²489.5/km²-0.05%
59Langenfeld, RhinelandMettmann59,65056,82941.2 km²1,450/km²0.44%
60UnnaUnna59,51559,14988.6 km²672.0/km²0.06%
61EuskirchenEuskirchen58,69755,414139 km²420.8/km²0.52%
62Stolberg, RhinelandAachen57,16556,20698.5 km²580.5/km²0.15%
63EschweilerAachen57,09354,67175.8 km²753.7/km²0.39%
64MeerbuschRhein-Kreis Neuss56,99954,31364.4 km²885.1/km²0.44%
65Sankt AugustinRhein-Sieg-Kreis55,98553,85034.2 km²1,636/km²0.35%
66PulheimRhein-Erft-Kreis55,19952,92972.2 km²765.1/km²0.38%
67HildenMettmann55,08554,39026.0 km²2,123/km²0.12%
68Bad SalzuflenLippe53,88952,285100 km²538.6/km²0.27%
69HattingenEnnepe-Ruhr-Kreis52,75854,25371.7 km²736.2/km²-0.25%
70AhlenWarendorf52,66952,280123 km²427.8/km²0.07%
71Menden, SauerlandMärkischer Kreis52,43454,49586.1 km²609.0/km²-0.35%
72KleveKleve52,20847,43897.8 km²534.0/km²0.87%
73FrechenRhein-Erft-Kreis51,86349,65745.1 km²1,151/km²0.40%
74GummersbachOberbergischer Kreis51,32749,95195.4 km²538.0/km²0.25%
75IbbenbürenSteinfurt50,61850,569109 km²464.9/km²0.01%
75Bad OeynhausenMinden-Lübbecke50,39448,62364.8 km²777.3/km²0.33%

References