# 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. 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

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. A city is displayed in bold if it is a state or federal capital.
* The city rank by population as of 15 May 2022, as estimated by the Federal Statistical Office of German
* The city name
* The name of the district (Landkreis) in which the city lies (some cities are districts on their own called urban districts)
* The city population as of 15 May 2022, as estimated by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany
* The city population as of 9 May 2011, as enumerated by the 2011 European Union census
* The city land area as of 15 May 2022
* The city population density as of 15 May 2022 (residents per unit of land area)
* Yearly population growth between 2011 and 2022
| 2022 Rank | City | district | 2022 Census | 2011 Census | 2022 land area | 2022 pop. density | annual growth (2011–2022) |
| 1 | Cologne | urban district | 1,017,355 | 1,005,775 | 405 km² | 2,512/km² | 0.10% |
| 2 | Düsseldorf | urban district | 611,258 | 586,291 | 217 km² | 2,812/km² | 0.38% |
| 3 | Dortmund | urban district | 598,246 | 571,143 | 281 km² | 2,131/km² | 0.42% |
| 4 | Essen | urban district | 571,039 | 566,201 | 210 km² | 2,715/km² | 0.08% |
| 5 | Duisburg | urban district | 501,415 | 488,468 | 233 km² | 2,154/km² | 0.24% |
| 6 | Wuppertal | urban district | 356,768 | 342,661 | 168 km² | 2,119/km² | 0.37% |
| 7 | Bochum | urban district | 354,288 | 362,286 | 146 km² | 2,432/km² | -0.20% |
| 8 | Bielefeld | urban district | 330,072 | 326,870 | 259 km² | 1,275/km² | 0.09% |
| 9 | Bonn | urban district | 321,544 | 305,765 | 141 km² | 2,279/km² | 0.46% |
| 10 | Münster | urban district | 303,772 | 289,576 | 303 km² | 1,002/km² | 0.44% |
| 11 | Gelsenkirchen | urban district | 264,130 | 258,766 | 105 km² | 2,517/km² | 0.19% |
| 12 | Mönchengladbach | urban district | 264,089 | 255,188 | 170 km² | 1,549/km² | 0.31% |
| 13 | Aachen | Aachen | 261,178 | 236,420 | 161 km² | 1,624/km² | 0.91% |
| 14 | Krefeld | urban district | 230,666 | 222,247 | 138 km² | 1,674/km² | 0.34% |
| 15 | Oberhausen | urban district | 212,127 | 210,216 | 77.1 km² | 2,752/km² | 0.08% |
| 16 | Hagen | urban district | 189,614 | 187,944 | 160 km² | 1,182/km² | 0.08% |
| 17 | Hamm | urban district | 179,070 | 176,037 | 226 km² | 790.9/km² | 0.16% |
| 18 | Mülheim an der Ruhr | urban district | 171,435 | 166,865 | 91.3 km² | 1,878/km² | 0.25% |
| 19 | Leverkusen | urban district | 166,356 | 158,984 | 78.9 km² | 2,109/km² | 0.41% |
| 20 | Solingen | urban district | 164,621 | 155,265 | 89.5 km² | 1,839/km² | 0.53% |
| 21 | Paderborn | Paderborn | 155,516 | 142,365 | 180 km² | 866.0/km² | 0.81% |
| 22 | Herne | urban district | 155,446 | 155,160 | 51.4 km² | 3,023/km² | 0.02% |
| 23 | Neuss | Rhein-Kreis Neuss | 153,079 | 150,568 | 99.5 km² | 1,538/km² | 0.15% |
| 24 | Bottrop | urban district | 117,921 | 117,311 | 101 km² | 1,172/km² | 0.05% |
| 25 | Recklinghausen | Recklinghausen | 115,216 | 115,958 | 66.5 km² | 1,733/km² | -0.06% |
| 26 | Remscheid | urban district | 113,743 | 110,708 | 74.5 km² | 1,526/km² | 0.25% |
| 27 | Bergisch Gladbach | Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis | 110,898 | 108,878 | 83.1 km² | 1,335/km² | 0.17% |
| 28 | Siegen | Siegen-Wittgenstein | 102,275 | 99,187 | 115 km² | 891.8/km² | 0.28% |
| 29 | Moers | Wesel | 100,465 | 104,009 | 67.7 km² | 1,484/km² | -0.31% |
| 30 | Gütersloh | Gütersloh | 99,344 | 94,172 | 112 km² | 886.8/km² | 0.49% |
| 31 | Düren | Düren | 94,149 | 88,789 | 85.0 km² | 1,108/km² | 0.53% |
| 32 | Iserlohn | Märkischer Kreis | 91,941 | 94,630 | 125 km² | 732.7/km² | -0.26% |
| 33 | Witten | Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis | 91,735 | 96,382 | 72.4 km² | 1,267/km² | -0.45% |
| 34 | Ratingen | Mettmann | 88,425 | 86,967 | 88.7 km² | 996.5/km² | 0.15% |
| 35 | Marl | Recklinghausen | 85,684 | 84,782 | 87.8 km² | 976.5/km² | 0.10% |
| 36 | Lünen | Unna | 85,234 | 86,010 | 59.4 km² | 1,435/km² | -0.08% |
| 37 | Minden | Minden-Lübbecke | 83,743 | 80,121 | 101 km² | 828.2/km² | 0.40% |
| 38 | Velbert | Mettmann | 82,319 | 81,303 | 74.9 km² | 1,099/km² | 0.11% |
| 39 | Rheine | Steinfurt | 76,344 | 72,749 | 145 km² | 526.5/km² | 0.44% |
| 40 | Viersen | Viersen | 76,146 | 74,941 | 91.1 km² | 835.9/km² | 0.14% |
| 41 | Gladbeck | Recklinghausen | 75,515 | 73,974 | 36.0 km² | 2,100/km² | 0.19% |
| 42 | Troisdorf | Rhein-Sieg-Kreis | 75,335 | 72,408 | 62.0 km² | 1,215/km² | 0.36% |
| 43 | Arnsberg | Hochsauerlandkreis | 74,861 | 74,383 | 194 km² | 386.4/km² | 0.06% |
| 44 | Detmold | Lippe | 74,486 | 73,743 | 129 km² | 575.7/km² | 0.09% |
| 45 | Dorsten | Recklinghausen | 74,257 | 76,860 | 171 km² | 433.5/km² | -0.31% |
| 46 | Castrop-Rauxel | Recklinghausen | 72,839 | 74,629 | 51.7 km² | 1,409/km² | -0.22% |
| 47 | Bocholt | Rhein-Sieg-Kreis | 71,985 | 71,256 | 119 km² | 602.9/km² | 0.09% |
| 48 | Lüdenscheid | Märkischer Kreis | 71,688 | 73,762 | 87.0 km² | 823.8/km² | -0.26% |
| 49 | Lippstadt | Soest | 68,100 | 65,886 | 114 km² | 599.0/km² | 0.30% |
| 50 | Herford | Herford | 66,985 | 65,213 | 79.2 km² | 846.3/km² | 0.24% |
| 51 | Dinslaken | Wesel | 66,606 | 67,853 | 47.7 km² | 1,398/km² | -0.17% |
| 52 | Kerpen | Rhein-Erft-Kreis | 65,763 | 63,273 | 114 km² | 577.1/km² | 0.35% |
| 53 | Grevenbroich | Rhein-Kreis Neuss | 65,230 | 61,741 | 102 km² | 636.9/km² | 0.50% |
| 54 | Dormagen | Rhein-Kreis Neuss | 64,259 | 62,208 | 85.5 km² | 751.6/km² | 0.29% |
| 55 | Bergheim | Rhein-Erft-Kreis | 61,449 | 58,922 | 96.3 km² | 637.8/km² | 0.38% |
| 56 | Hürth | Rhein-Erft-Kreis | 61,209 | 55,082 | 51.2 km² | 1,195/km² | 0.96% |
| 57 | Herten | Recklinghausen | 61,062 | 61,505 | 37.3 km² | 1,636/km² | -0.07% |
| 58 | Wesel | Wesel | 59,988 | 60,335 | 123 km² | 489.5/km² | -0.05% |
| 59 | Langenfeld, Rhineland | Mettmann | 59,650 | 56,829 | 41.2 km² | 1,450/km² | 0.44% |
| 60 | Unna | Unna | 59,515 | 59,149 | 88.6 km² | 672.0/km² | 0.06% |
| 61 | Euskirchen | Euskirchen | 58,697 | 55,414 | 139 km² | 420.8/km² | 0.52% |
| 62 | Stolberg, Rhineland | Aachen | 57,165 | 56,206 | 98.5 km² | 580.5/km² | 0.15% |
| 63 | Eschweiler | Aachen | 57,093 | 54,671 | 75.8 km² | 753.7/km² | 0.39% |
| 64 | Meerbusch | Rhein-Kreis Neuss | 56,999 | 54,313 | 64.4 km² | 885.1/km² | 0.44% |
| 65 | Sankt Augustin | Rhein-Sieg-Kreis | 55,985 | 53,850 | 34.2 km² | 1,636/km² | 0.35% |
| 66 | Pulheim | Rhein-Erft-Kreis | 55,199 | 52,929 | 72.2 km² | 765.1/km² | 0.38% |
| 67 | Hilden | Mettmann | 55,085 | 54,390 | 26.0 km² | 2,123/km² | 0.12% |
| 68 | Bad Salzuflen | Lippe | 53,889 | 52,285 | 100 km² | 538.6/km² | 0.27% |
| 69 | Hattingen | Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis | 52,758 | 54,253 | 71.7 km² | 736.2/km² | -0.25% |
| 70 | Ahlen | Warendorf | 52,669 | 52,280 | 123 km² | 427.8/km² | 0.07% |
| 71 | Menden, Sauerland | Märkischer Kreis | 52,434 | 54,495 | 86.1 km² | 609.0/km² | -0.35% |
| 72 | Kleve | Kleve | 52,208 | 47,438 | 97.8 km² | 534.0/km² | 0.87% |
| 73 | Frechen | Rhein-Erft-Kreis | 51,863 | 49,657 | 45.1 km² | 1,151/km² | 0.40% |
| 74 | Gummersbach | Oberbergischer Kreis | 51,327 | 49,951 | 95.4 km² | 538.0/km² | 0.25% |
| 75 | Ibbenbüren | Steinfurt | 50,618 | 50,569 | 109 km² | 464.9/km² | 0.01% |
| 75 | Bad Oeynhausen | Minden-Lübbecke | 50,394 | 48,623 | 64.8 km² | 777.3/km² | 0.33% |