Bonus List

U.S. STATES WITH THE LONGEST AND SHORTEST CITY NAMES
While the variation between states with the longest and shortest city names is fairly small, there still exists a definite pattern. Most of the states on the East Coast tend to have longer city names, while states in the Plains and Intermountain West tend to have shorter city names. Maryland, where the average city name has 9.9 letters (even though no city actually has exactly 9.9 letters, ha!), has a lot of lengthy names like Gaithersburg, Randallstown and Havre de Grace, while North Dakota, where the average city name has only 7.1 letters, has numerous short names like Fargo, Minot and Rugby.

Longest City Names:

STATE

1. Maryland
1. Florida
2. Rhode Island
4. Kentucky
4. New Jersey
6. Virginia
7. Pennsylvania
8. New York
8. Ohio
10. Tennessee
10. Vermont

AVERAGE CITY
NAME LENGTH (LETTERS)
9.9
9.7
9.6
9.5
9.5
9.3
9.2
9.0
9.0
8.8
8.8

Shortest City Names:

STATE

1. North Dakota
2. Oklahoma
3. Idaho
3. Nevada
3. South Dakota
6. Kansas
6. Nebraska
6. Wyoming
9. Maine
9. Montana
9. New Hampshire

AVERAGE CITY
NAME LENGTH (LETTERS)
7.1
7.3
7.5
7.5
7.5
7.6
7.6
7.6
7.7
7.7
7.7

Includes incorporated cities and boroughs as defined by the 2000 U.S. Census.

Among incorporated places, the longest name is Bellefontaine Neighbors (22 letters), Missouri. However, if one were to include "fancy add-ons," then the winners would be Municipality of Monroeville and Municipality of Murrysville (25 letters each, both in Pennsylvania). However, both of those places are referred to as Monroeville and Murrysville, respectively, so for all practical purposes, Bellefontaine Neighbors wins. If unincorporated places were included, numerous "Census Designated Places" (CDPs) would be longer, such as Chesapeake Ranch Estates-Drum Point (31 letters), Maryland.

Numerous incorporated cities have names containing only 3 letters, including (among others) Ada (Oklahoma), Ajo (Arizona) and Ely (Nevada). If unincorporated place names were included, Y (Alaska) would win hands-down!

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