The Census actually measures city sizes in terms of &quot;Metropolitan Statistical Areas&quot; or MSA&#x27;s. Here are the populations for the areas in question:<p><pre><code>  SF-Oakland-Hayward MSA: 4,516,276
  New York SA: 13,038,826 (according to [1])
  Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue MSA: 3,671,478
  Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA: 12,944,801
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[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;New_York_statistical_areas" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;New_York_statistical_areas</a>