In America, what makes a city "A city"? Is it population? At what point does a town become a city?

Answer 1

In general there are two things that make something "a city" population and governmental designation (often called "incorporation").

On a state-to-state basis there are qualifications to be a "town" "village" "city" etc. To become one or change to another usually means applying to the state and, in some states, citizens must vote on that before it happens.

The basic qualification is, of course, population.

Answer 2

In most western states (including California and Oregon for sure) the only kind of incorporated area is a city. There are no official towns or villages even though some places might advertise themselves as such because it sounds nice. Therefore, if a location is incorporated (meaning the state has created or allowed the creation of a local government body and given that body control over a defined physical area) in these states, it is called a "city" - regardless of the population. There are some cities with only a few hundred residents.

In other words, the term "city" in America is a legal term, and what makes a city a "city" is having an appropriate set of legal documents.

Settlements that are not incorporated often have no legal definition at all (they are administered by the government of whatever county they're in) and are often colloquially referred to as "towns" simply for lack of a better term.

Answer 3

A good point. The criteria differs from state to state. Based on what services a municpality expects to offer, and what rules it can impose, it is "incorporated", which is an official procedure with the State Secretary of State. Some municipalities are "villages" or "boroughs" or "towns" or "cities", depending on the state definition of such. In Maryland, cities can be as small as 20,000 or so people. In Virginia, cities can be "Independent Cities" which function independently of the county in which they are located.

Answer 4

In general, it's the size of the population. However the meanings of what constitutes a "town", at least here in the U.S., is not the same in every state. I remember debating this with friends before, whether places we were at were "towns" or "cities". This link explains a little more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town#United_States

Answer 5

size and population

Answer 6

usually population& size but there are other things too