Largest Cities and Urban Localities by Population in Israel

92 cities and urban localities in Israel with 20,000 or more inhabitants, ranked by population estimates for December 31, 2021 (by Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel).

Rank	City or Urban Locality	Also Known As	Native Name	Population
1	Jerusalem ^[1]	Yerushalayim, Al-Quds	ירושלים	966,210
2	Tel Aviv-Jaffa	Tel Aviv-Yafo	תל אביב-יפו	467,875
3	Haifa	Hefa	חיפה	282,832
4	Rishon LeZion	Rishon LeZiyyon	ראשון לציון	257,128
5	Petah Tikva	Petah Tiqwa	פתח תקווה	252,270
6	Ashdod	-	אשדוד	225,975
7	Netanya	-	נתניה	224,066
8	Bnei Brak	Bene Beraq	בני ברק	212,395
9	Beersheba	Be'er Sheva	באר שבע	211,251
10	Holon	-	חולון	197,464
11	Ramat Gan	-	רמת גן	169,706
12	Ashkelon	Ashqelon	אשקלון	149,160
13	Rehovot	-	רחובות	147,878
14	Beit Shemesh	Bet Shemesh	בית שמש	141,764
15	Bat Yam	-	בת ים	126,290
16	Herzliya	Herzliyya	הרצליה	103,318
17	Kfar Saba	Kefar Sava	כפר סבא	101,801
18	Hadera	-	חדרה	100,631
19	Modi'in-Makkabbim-Re'utMaccabim	-	מודיעין-מכבים-רעות	97,097
20	Lod	-	לוד	82,629
21	Ra'annana	-	רעננה	78,562
22	Nazareth	Nazerat, An-Nāṣirah	נצרת	77,925
23	Ramla	-	רמלה	77,798
24	Rahat	-	רהט	76,237
25	Rosh HaAyin	-	ראש העין	71,651
26	Hod HaSharon	-	הוד השרון	65,363
27	Giv'atayim	-	גבעתיים	61,281
28	Nahariya	Nahariyya	נהריה	60,806
29	Kiryat Gat	Qiryat Gat	קריית גת	60,582
30	Kiryat Ata	Qiryat Atta, Kefar Ata	קריית אתא	60,102
31	Afula	-	עפולה	59,075
32	Umm al-Fahm	-	אום אל-פחם	57,677
33	Yavne	-	יבנה	53,595
34	Eilat	Elat	אילת	52,753
35	Ness Ziona	Nes Ziyyona	נס ציונה	50,456
36	Acre	Akko	עכו	49,614
37	El'ad	-	אלעד	49,593
38	Ramat HaSharon	-	רמת השרון	47,970
39	Tiberias	Teverya	טבריה	46,698
40	Kiryat Motzkin	Qiryat Motzkin	קריית מוצקין	46,565
41	Karmi'el	-	כרמיאל	46,311
42	Tayibe	Aṭ-Ṭayibah	טייבה	45,388
43	Pardes Hanna-Karkur	-	פרדס חנה-כרכור	44,210
44	Kiryat Bialik	Qiryat Bialik	קריית ביאליק	43,267
45	Shefa-'Amr	Shefar'am, Shafā A'mr	שפרעם	43,023
46	Nof HaGalil	Nazerat Illit	נוף הגליל	42,657
47	Netivot	-	נתיבות	42,039
48	Kiryat Ono	Qiryat Ono	קריית אונו	41,900
49	Kiryat Yam	Qiryat Yam	קריית ים	39,441
50	Safed	Zefat	צפת	37,472
51	Or Yehuda	-	אור יהודה	36,815
52	Dimona	-	דימונה	35,892
53	Tamra	Ṭamrah	טמרה	35,405
54	Ofakim	Ofaqim	אופקים	33,999
55	Sakhnin	-	סח'נין	32,743
56	Baqa al-Gharbiyye	Bāqah al-Gharbiyah	באקה אל-גרבייה	30,973
57	Yehud	-	יהוד	30,619
58	Sderot	Sederot	שדרות	30,553
59	Gedera	-	גדרה	30,392
60	Be'er Ya'aqov	-	באר יעקב	29,852
61	Giv'at Shmuel	Giv'at Shemu'el	גבעת שמואל	28,162
62	Kefar Yona	-	כפר יונה	27,898
63	Arad	-	ערד	27,582
64	Tire	Aṭ-Ṭīrah	טירה	27,392
65	Harish	-	חריש	27,006
66	Tirat Karmel	-	טירת כרמל	26,806
67	Arraba	Arrabe, 'Arrābat	עראבה	26,641
68	Migdal HaEmeq	-	מגדל העמק	26,029
69	Ar'ara	'Ar'arah	ערערה	25,823
70	Kiryat Malakhi	Qiryat Mal'akhi	קריית מלאכי	25,022
71	Mevaseret Zion	Mevasseret Ziyyon	מבשרת ציון	24,943
72	Kafr Qasim	Kafar Qasem	כפר קאסם	24,757
73	Gan Yavne	-	גן יבנה	24,251
74	Yokneam	Yoqne'am Illit	יקנעם עילית	24,158
75	Hura	Ḥūrah	חורה	23,943
76	Qalansawe	Qalansawah	קלנסווה	23,877
77	Zikhron Ya'aqov	-	זכרון יעקב	23,857
78	Nesher	-	נשר	23,760
79	Kafar Kanna	Kafr Kanā	כפר כנא	23,705
80	Maghar	Mughar, Al-Mughār	מע'אר	23,624
81	Kuseife	Kuseīfah	כסיפה	23,219
82	Kadima-Tzoran	Qadima-Zoran	קדימה-צורן	22,920
83	Ganei Tikva	Ganne Tiqwa	גני תקווה	22,694
84	Kiryat Shmona	Qiryat Shemona	קריית שמונה	22,336
85	Ma'alot-Tarshiha	-	מעלות-תרשיחא	22,315
86	Tel Sheva	Tel as-Sabi	תל שבע	22,187
87	Judeide-Maker	Makr-Judeīdah	ג'דיידה-מכר	21,507
88	Shoham	-	שוהם	21,441
89	Kafr Manda	Kafar Manda	כפר מנדא	21,073
90	Or Aqiva	-	אור עקיבא	19,902
91	Kafar Qara	-	כפר קרע	19,691
92	Ar'ara-Banegev	-	ערערה-בנגב	19,682

[1]
Jerusalem includes annexed East Jerusalem.

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel (2021 estimate), via City Population by Thomas Brinkhoff.

Why don't these match official city populations?Official figures typically count only the population within administrative boundaries. UN urban area figures cover the entire built-up area, which can include multiple cities and towns.Show moreShow less

Tokyo

33,338,852

Urban area

9,953,160

23 wards

Essen

2,709,375

Urban area

573,618

City of Essen

Ankara

3,630,865

Urban area

5,186,002

Metropolitan municipality

What counts as an urban area? The UN uses satellite imagery to map built-up land, and treats each continuous stretch of built-up land as an urban area. This means that urban areas can extend beyond official city boundaries, and may include multiple cities and towns within a single urban area.

Can an urban area be smaller than its city? Yes. While most cities have urban areas larger than their administrative boundaries, some cities have extensive administrative limits that include sparsely populated areas.

25 urban areas in Israel with 50,000 or more inhabitants, ranked by the UN's population estimates for 2026.

Rank	Urban Area	Population Estimate (2026)	Yearly Change	Land Area (km²)	Density (P/km²)	World Rank	Projections (2030)	Projections (2050)
1	Tel Aviv	2,676,126	+1.24%	338	7,913	186	2,809,140	3,483,084
2	Jerusalem	931,042	+1.13%	74	12,616	563	973,298	1,197,648
3	Haifa	491,971	+1.46%	123	4,000	1,139	520,774	681,410
4	Modiin-Maccabim-Reut	290,875	+1.76%	21	13,851	2,014	311,322	398,529
5	Ashdod	290,394	+1.41%	49	5,878	2,016	306,729	379,600
6	Nazareth	272,639	+2.58%	52	5,223	2,162	300,753	437,702
7	Netanya	263,552	+2.22%	38	7,009	2,245	286,904	407,284
8	Rehovot	252,591	+1.06%	45	5,613	2,341	263,256	356,101
9	Beersheba	216,693	+1.19%	38	5,673	2,762	227,047	309,668
10	Rosh HaAyin	113,757	+1.61%	22	5,078	5,490	121,079	162,270
11	Ashkelon	110,180	+1.27%	23	4,749	5,675	115,788	184,292
12	Hadera	80,078	+1.44%	21	3,742	7,886	84,686	105,815
13	Beit Shemesh	74,234	+2.74%	15	5,085	8,499	82,372	132,839
14	Taibe	71,894	+1.51%	11	6,419	8,749	76,248	100,335
15	Kafr Yasif	68,746	+1.17%	15	4,583	9,126	71,952	93,944
16	Umm al-Fahm	65,373	+0.99%	13	5,029	9,604	67,966	86,438
17	Shefaram	64,892	+1.61%	15	4,269	9,677	69,066	150,923
18	Nahariyya	62,669	+1.33%	15	4,178	10,030	66,003	89,296
19	Tiberias	57,295	+1.31%	12	4,775	10,890	60,308	79,363
20	Daliyat al-Karmel	56,924	+1.37%	18	3,162	10,973	60,042	80,455
21	Tira	56,663	+0.86%	9.00	6,296	11,007	58,610	105,834
22	Carmiel	53,336	+2.49%	11	4,679	11,649	58,647	82,929
23	Yavne	52,796	+1.12%	11	4,800	11,750	55,156	73,897
24	Even Yehuda	52,298	+2.14%	17	3,006	11,847	56,772	94,471
25	Baqa al Gharbiyya	50,927	+0.89%	11	4,630	12,038	52,745	70,676

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision, Online Edition.

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Reference

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Largest Cities and Urban Localities by Population in Israel

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