Form of Local Government Longitudinal Statistics - Cities (1984-2012) Form of Local Government: Longitudinal Statistics (1984 — 2012)
Fast Facts about U.S. cities:
• More than 92 million individuals live in cities operating under council-manager government.
• 62% of U.S. cities with populations of 50,000* or more operate under the council-manager form
• 62% of U.S. cities with populations of 25,000* or more operate under the council-manager form
• 57% of U.S. cities with populations of 10,000* or more operate under the council-manager form
• 53% of U.S. cities with populations of 5,000* or more operate under the council-manager form
*Source: The 2012 Municipal Year Book,published by ICMA,Washington,D.C. Percentages were derived by dividing the number of council-manager communities in a specific
population range by the total number of cities in that population range.
FORM OF 2012 2008 2004 2000 1996 1992 1988 1984
GOVERNMENT
Council-Manager 3,661 (48.6%) 3,520 3,453 3,302 2,760 2,441 2,356 2,290 (34.7%)
Mayor-Council 3,315 (44.0%) 3,131 3,089 2,988 3,319 3,635 3,686 3,686(55.8%)
Commission 144 (1.9%) 143 145 143 154 168 173 176 (2.7%)
Town Meeting 351 (4.7%) 338 338 334 365 363 369 370 (5.6%)
Representative 67 (0.9%) 62 63 65 70 79 82 81 (1.2%)
Town Meeting
Unknown 3
Total **7,539 **7,194 **7,091 **6,832 **6,668 **6,686 **6,666 **6,603
**Totals for the number of U.S. local governments represent only those municipalities with populations of 2,500 and greater. There are close to 30,000 local
governments with populations fewer than 2,500.
Source for tabular statistics: "Inside the Year Book: Cumulative Distribution of U.S.Municipalities"in The Municipal Year Books 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996,2000,2004,2008,and
2012 published by the premier local government leadership and management organization,ICMA,Washington,D.C.
ICMA
Leaders at the Core of Better Communities