List of cities in Germany by population

Cities are important places where many people live and work together. In Germany, a big city is called a Großstadt, and it means a city with more than 100,000 people. Right now, there are 80 cities in Germany that have this many people living in them.

This list shows these cities based on how many people live in each one, but it only counts the people who live inside the city’s official borders. It doesn’t include people who live just outside the city in nearby towns or villages that are part of the bigger area around the city. This helps us see which cities are the biggest by themselves, not just when we think of the whole group of places around them.

List

This table shows the 80 cities in Germany that have at least 100,000 people living in them as of December 31, 2021. The information comes from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany. Cities that are state or federal capitals are shown in bold, and the largest city in each state is shown in italics.

The table includes details like each city's population in 2021 and 2015, how much the population changed, the city's size in area, and how many people live in each area of the city.

Schwerin is the only state capital that is not on this list.

2021 rank	City	State	2021 estimate	2015 estimate	Growth	Rank change	2021 land area	2021 population density
1	Berlin	Berlin	3,677,472	3,520,031	+4.47%	0	891.3 km2 344.1 sq mi	4,126/km2 10,690/sq mi
2	Hamburg	Hamburg	1,906,411	1,787,408	+6.66%	0	755.2 km2 291.6 sq mi	2,524/km2 6,540/sq mi
3	Munich (München)	Bavaria	1,487,708	1,450,381	+2.57%	0	310.7 km2 120.0 sq mi	4,788/km2 12,400/sq mi
4	Cologne (Köln)	North Rhine-Westphalia	1,073,096	1,060,582	+1.18%	0	405.15 km2 156.43 sq mi	2,648/km2 6,860/sq mi
5	Frankfurt am Main	Hesse	759,224	732,688	+3.62%	0	248.31 km2 95.87 sq mi	3,057/km2 7,920/sq mi
6	Stuttgart	Baden-Württemberg	626,275	623,738	+0.41%	0	207.33 km2 80.05 sq mi	3,020/km2 7,800/sq mi
7	Düsseldorf	North Rhine-Westphalia	619,477	612,178	+1.19%	0	217.41 km2 83.94 sq mi	2,849/km2 7,380/sq mi
8	Leipzig	Saxony	601,866	560,472	+7.39%	2	297.4 km2 114.8 sq mi	2,024/km2 5,240/sq mi
9	Dortmund	North Rhine-Westphalia	586,852	586,181	+0.11%	1	280.71 km2 108.38 sq mi	2,091/km2 5,420/sq mi
10	Essen	North Rhine-Westphalia	579,432	582,624	−0.55%	1	210.34 km2 81.21 sq mi	2,755/km2 7,140/sq mi
11	Bremen	Bremen	563,290	557,464	+1.05%	0	326.7 km2 126.1 sq mi	1,724/km2 4,470/sq mi
12	Dresden	Saxony	555,351	543,825	+2.12%	0	328.8 km2 127.0 sq mi	1,689/km2 4,370/sq mi
13	Hanover (Hannover)	Lower Saxony	535,932	532,163	+0.71%	0	204.0 km2 78.8 sq mi	2,627/km2 6,800/sq mi
14	Nuremberg (Nürnberg)	Bavaria	510,632	509,975	+0.13%	0	186.5 km2 72.0 sq mi	2,739/km2 7,090/sq mi
15	Duisburg	North Rhine-Westphalia	495,152	491,231	+0.80%	0	232.8 km2 89.9 sq mi	2,127/km2 5,510/sq mi
16	Bochum	North Rhine-Westphalia	363,441	364,742	−0.36%	0	145.4 km2 56.1 sq mi	2,500/km2 6,500/sq mi
17	Wuppertal	North Rhine-Westphalia	354,572	350,046	+1.29%	0	168.4 km2 65.0 sq mi	2,105/km2 5,450/sq mi
18	Bielefeld	North Rhine-Westphalia	334,002	333,090	+0.27%	0	257.8 km2 99.5 sq mi	1,296/km2 3,360/sq mi
19	Bonn	North Rhine-Westphalia	331,885	318,809	+4.10%	0	141.1 km2 54.5 sq mi	2,353/km2 6,090/sq mi
20	Münster	North Rhine-Westphalia	317,713	310,039	+2.48%	0	302.9 km2 117.0 sq mi	1,049/km2 2,720/sq mi
21	Mannheim	Baden-Württemberg	311,831	305,780	+1.98%	1	145.0 km2 56.0 sq mi	2,151/km2 5,570/sq mi
22	Karlsruhe	Baden-Württemberg	306,502	307,755	−0.41%	1	173.5 km2 67.0 sq mi	1,767/km2 4,580/sq mi
23	Augsburg	Bavaria	296,478	286,374	+3.53%	0	146.8 km2 56.7 sq mi	2,019/km2 5,230/sq mi
24	Wiesbaden	Hesse	278,950	276,218	+0.99%	0	203.9 km2 78.7 sq mi	1,368/km2 3,540/sq mi
25	Mönchengladbach	North Rhine-Westphalia	261,001	259,996	+0.39%	1	170.4 km2 65.8 sq mi	1,531/km2 3,970/sq mi
26	Gelsenkirchen	North Rhine-Westphalia	260,126	260,368	−0.09%	1	104.8 km2 40.5 sq mi	2,481/km2 6,430/sq mi
27	Aachen	North Rhine-Westphalia	249,070	245,885	+1.30%	3	160.85 km2 62.10 sq mi	1,548/km2 4,010/sq mi
28	Braunschweig	Lower Saxony	248,823	251,364	−1.01%	1	192.1 km2 74.2 sq mi	1,295/km2 3,350/sq mi
29	Kiel	Schleswig-Holstein	246,243	246,306	−0.03%	0	118.6 km2 45.8 sq mi	2,076/km2 5,380/sq mi
30	Chemnitz	Saxony	243,105	248,645	−2.23%	2	220.85 km2 85.27 sq mi	1,101/km2 2,850/sq mi
31	Halle (Saale)	Saxony-Anhalt	238,061	236,991	+0.45%	0	135.0 km2 52.1 sq mi	1,763/km2 4,570/sq mi
32	Magdeburg	Saxony-Anhalt	236,188	235,723	+0.20%	0	201.0 km2 77.6 sq mi	1,175/km2 3,040/sq mi
33	Freiburg im Breisgau	Baden-Württemberg	231,848	226,393	+2.41%	0	153.1 km2 59.1 sq mi	1,514/km2 3,920/sq mi
34	Krefeld	North Rhine-Westphalia	227,050	225,144	+0.85%	0	137.7 km2 53.2 sq mi	1,649/km2 4,270/sq mi
35	Mainz	Rhineland-Palatinate	217,556	209,779	+3.71%	3	97.7 km2 37.7 sq mi	2,226/km2 5,770/sq mi
36	Lübeck	Schleswig-Holstein	216,277	216,253	+0.01%	1	214.1 km2 82.7 sq mi	1,010/km2 2,600/sq mi
37	Erfurt	Thuringia	213,227	210,118	+1.48%	0	269.2 km2 103.9 sq mi	792/km2 2,050/sq mi
38	Oberhausen	North Rhine-Westphalia	208,752	210,934	−1.03%	2	77.0 km2 29.7 sq mi	2,710/km2 7,000/sq mi
39	Rostock	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	208,400	206,011	+1.16%	0	181.4 km2 70.0 sq mi	1,149/km2 2,980/sq mi
40	Kassel	Hesse	200,406	197,984	+1.22%	0	107.0 km2 41.3 sq mi	1,873/km2 4,850/sq mi
41	Hagen	North Rhine-Westphalia	188,713	189,044	−0.18%	0	160.4 km2 61.9 sq mi	1,177/km2 3,050/sq mi
42	Potsdam	Brandenburg	183,154	167,745	+9.19%	3	187.3 km2 72.3 sq mi	978/km2 2,530/sq mi
43	Saarbrücken	Saarland	179,634	178,151	+0.83%	0	167.1 km2 64.5 sq mi	1,075/km2 2,780/sq mi
44	Hamm	North Rhine-Westphalia	179,238	179,397	−0.09%	2	226.3 km2 87.4 sq mi	792/km2 2,050/sq mi
45	Ludwigshafen am Rhein	Rhineland-Palatinate	172,145	164,718	+4.51%	1	77.7 km2 30.0 sq mi	2,216/km2 5,740/sq mi
46	Mülheim an der Ruhr	North Rhine-Westphalia	170,739	169,278	+0.86%	2	91.3 km2 35.3 sq mi	1,871/km2 4,850/sq mi
47	Oldenburg	Lower Saxony	170,389	163,830	+4.00%	0	103.0 km2 39.8 sq mi	1,655/km2 4,290/sq mi
48	Osnabrück	Lower Saxony	165,034	162,403	+1.62%	1	119.8 km2 46.3 sq mi	1,378/km2 3,570/sq mi
49	Leverkusen	North Rhine-Westphalia	163,851	163,487	+0.22%	1	78.9 km2 30.5 sq mi	2,078/km2 5,380/sq mi
50	Darmstadt	Hesse	159,631	155,353	+2.75%	4	122.2 km2 47.2 sq mi	1,306/km2 3,380/sq mi
51	Heidelberg	Baden-Württemberg	159,245	156,267	+1.91%	0	108.8 km2 42.0 sq mi	1,463/km2 3,790/sq mi
52	Solingen	North Rhine-Westphalia	158,957	158,726	+0.15%	2	89.5 km2 34.6 sq mi	1,777/km2 4,600/sq mi
53	Herne	North Rhine-Westphalia	156,621	155,851	+0.49%	1	51.4 km2 19.8 sq mi	3,047/km2 7,890/sq mi
54	Regensburg	Bavaria	153,542	145,465	+5.55%	2	80.8 km2 31.2 sq mi	1,901/km2 4,920/sq mi
55	Neuss	North Rhine-Westphalia	152,731	155,414	−1.73%	2	99.5 km2 38.4 sq mi	1,535/km2 3,980/sq mi
56	Paderborn	North Rhine-Westphalia	152,531	148,126	+2.97%	1	179.4 km2 69.3 sq mi	850/km2 2,200/sq mi
57	Ingolstadt	Bavaria	138,016	132,438	+4.21%	0	133.4 km2 51.5 sq mi	1,035/km2 2,680/sq mi
58	Offenbach am Main	Hesse	131,295	123,734	+6.11%	3	44.9 km2 17.3 sq mi	2,924/km2 7,570/sq mi
59	Fürth	Bavaria	129,122	124,171	+3.99%	0	63.4 km2 24.5 sq mi	2,038/km2 5,280/sq mi
60	Ulm	Baden-Württemberg	126,949	122,636	+3.52%	2	118.7 km2 45.8 sq mi	1,070/km2 2,800/sq mi
61	Würzburg	Bavaria	126,933	124,873	+1.65%	3	87.6 km2 33.8 sq mi	1,449/km2 3,750/sq mi
62	Heilbronn	Baden-Württemberg	125,613	122,567	+2.49%	1	99.9 km2 38.6 sq mi	1,258/km2 3,260/sq mi
63	Pforzheim	Baden-Württemberg	125,529	122,247	+2.68%	1	98.0 km2 37.8 sq mi	1,281/km2 3,320/sq mi
64	Wolfsburg	Lower Saxony	123,949	124,045	−0.08%	4	204.0 km2 78.8 sq mi	608/km2 1,570/sq mi
65	Bottrop	North Rhine-Westphalia	117,311	117,143	+0.14%	1	100.7 km2 38.9 sq mi	1,165/km2 3,020/sq mi
66	Göttingen	Lower Saxony	116,557	118,914	−1.98%	1	116.9 km2 45.1 sq mi	997/km2 2,580/sq mi
67	Reutlingen	Baden-Württemberg	116,456	114,310	+1.88%	2	87.1 km2 33.6 sq mi	1,338/km2 3,470/sq mi
68	Koblenz	Rhineland-Palatinate	113,638	112,586	+0.93%	3	105.0 km2 40.5 sq mi	1,082/km2 2,800/sq mi
69	Erlangen	Bavaria	113,292	108,336	+4.57%	6	77.0 km2 29.7 sq mi	1,472/km2 3,810/sq mi
70	Bremerhaven	Bremen	113,173	114,025	−0.75%	0	93.8 km2 36.2 sq mi	1,206/km2 3,120/sq mi
71	Remscheid	North Rhine-Westphalia	111,770	109,499	+2.07%	3	74.6 km2 28.8 sq mi	1,498/km2 3,880/sq mi
72	Bergisch Gladbach	North Rhine-Westphalia	111,645	111,366	+0.25%	0	83.1 km2 32.1 sq mi	1,343/km2 3,480/sq mi
73	Recklinghausen	North Rhine-Westphalia	110,714	114,330	−3.16%	5	66.4 km2 25.6 sq mi	1,667/km2 4,320/sq mi
74	Trier	Rhineland-Palatinate	110,570	114,914	−3.78%	7	117.1 km2 45.2 sq mi	945/km2 2,450/sq mi
75	Jena	Thuringia	110,502	109,527	+0.89%	2	114.8 km2 44.3 sq mi	963/km2 2,490/sq mi
76	Moers	North Rhine-Westphalia	103,725	104,529	−0.77%	0	67.7 km2 26.1 sq mi	1,533/km2 3,970/sq mi
77	Salzgitter	Lower Saxony	103,694	101,079	+2.59%	2	223.9 km2 86.4 sq mi	463/km2 1,200/sq mi
78	Siegen	North Rhine-Westphalia	101,516	102,355	−0.82%	1	114.7 km2 44.3 sq mi	885/km2 2,290/sq mi
79	Gütersloh	North Rhine-Westphalia	101,158	97,586	+3.66%	3	112.0 km2 43.2 sq mi	896/km2 2,320/sq mi
80	Hildesheim	Lower Saxony	100,319	101,667	−1.33%	2	92.2 km2 35.6 sq mi	1,088/km2 2,820/sq mi