Ah, the good ol' USA. What makes this sprawling nation the world's greatest? Our vast and diverse collection of cities, plus the people that make them go (haha). With that in mind, here is an ordered ranking of America's 50 largest cities.

This list is sourced from the Wikipedia page "List of Metropolitan Statistical Areas," with the most notable city in each statistical area singled out for clarity and convenience (for example, "New York-Newark-Jersey City" simply becomes New York, apologies to the fine people of New Jersey).

I have personally been to some of these cities, but I have not been to all of these cities. I have unburdened myself of this fact in doing this ranking, but if this is going to anger you in reading this list and you still wish to continue then the burden is yours and yours alone.

50. Orlando

49. Richmond, VA

48. Riverside, CA

47. San Jose

46. Jacksonville

45. Sacramento

44. Oklahoma City

43. Hartford, CT

42. Birmingham

41. Cleveland

40. Tampa

39. Memphis

38. Charlotte

37. Buffalo

36. Salt Lake City

35. Virginia Beach

34. Raleigh-Durham

33. Providence

32. Cincinnati

31. Dallas

30. Columbus, OH

29. Phoenix

28. Indianapolis

27. Kansas City

26. San Antonio

25. Detroit

24. St. Louis

23. Pittsburgh

22. Las Vegas

21. Boston

20. Portland

19. Minneapolis/St. Paul

18. Houston

17. Denver

16. San Diego

15. Louisville

14. Baltimore

13. Nashville

12. Philadelphia

11. Milwaukee

10. Austin

9. Atlanta

8. San Francisco

7. Washington, D.C.

6. New York

5. Miami

4. New Orleans

3. Seattle

2. Chicago

1. Los Angeles

[image via Getty]