How it works
This random place generator covers New York State, not only the five boroughs: every city and village in the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates, with New York City as one card among them.
Read the full guide
A random city in New York is usually a village
Nine cards in ten are villages, and a village can be large: Hempstead, in Nassau County, has 59,819 people, more than 51 of the 62 cities. Nassau County alone has 64 villages. The state's 933 towns are not on the cards.
Random places in New York from all 62 counties
New York City's card comes up under each of its five counties: Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and Richmond. Hamilton County has a single village, Speculator. Ten names point to another county: the city of Oneida is in Madison County, and Fulton is in Oswego County.
- Kiryas Joel, in Orange County, gained more than 13,000 people between 2020 and 2025, more than any other place on the cards.
- Fort Johnson, in Montgomery County, dissolved its village government at the end of 2023 and has no card.
Questions and answers
How many cities are in New York?
New York has 62 cities and 532 villages. Six cities have 100,000 people or more, and 177 of the 594 places have under 1,000.
What is the difference between a city and a village in New York?
A village stays part of the town or towns it lies in, and its residents pay town taxes too. A city has its own charter and, except Sherrill, belongs to no town. No minimum size is set: Little Falls, a city, has 4,481 people.
What is the smallest village in New York?
Dering Harbor, in the town of Shelter Island in Suffolk County, with 36 people in the 2025 estimates. Saltaire has 111 and West Hampton Dunes 120, both in the same county.
What are the largest cities in New York?
New York City, with 8,584,629 people, then Buffalo with 274,613, Yonkers with 212,603, Rochester with 206,108 and Syracuse with 144,896. Albany, the capital, is sixth with 101,698.