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Monterrey, 
Mexico
3,938,015 people lived in Monterrey in 2025. It is the 116th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 3rd largest in Mexico.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Monterrey governs, so it may be far from the number the city publishes about itself. How the UN measures a city.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How Monterrey grew
For every 10 people in Monterrey in 1975, there were 25.6 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 4.3 million people in 2050.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: one column every five years, 1975 to 2050; its height is the number of people. Hatched columns are the UN's projection. The thin strip beneath says how sure the UN is of each figure: the stronger the colour, the surer. A blank means the place was not on the UN's list of cities that year.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
Monterrey through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Monterrey in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Mexico · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Mexico and its 186 cities in 2025, each a dot whose area is its number of people (the largest is Mexico City). Monterrey is ringed, in colour; the other cities are grey. Neighbouring countries are outlines.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, Monterrey covered 641 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 195 km² of it. That is 49 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 7 by 7 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown to 2.4 times its size, and its people are 2.6 times as many.
How to read this: each pale square is the city's whole area, the strong square inside it the part that is built on; one scale for all three, so a bigger square is more land. Hatched is the UN's projection.
Of every 100 people in Mexico
Its share of Mexico
Of every 100 people in Mexico in 2025, 3 lived in Monterrey, which is 3.9 million people.
How to read this: 100 squares stand for everyone in Mexico, one square for every 100th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Monterrey's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 112 Taiyuan China4,005,816
- 113 Puning China3,989,322
- 114 Barcelona Spain3,982,704
- 115 Houston United States3,955,046
- 116 Monterrey3,938,015
- 117 Tashkent Uzbekistan3,935,793
- 118 Antananarivo Madagascar3,916,219
- 119 Varanasi India3,858,863
- 120 Dakar Senegal3,852,475
In Mexico, 2025
- 15 Mexico City17,734,212
- 108 Guadalajara4,135,440
- 116 Monterrey3,938,015
- 255 Puebla1,947,971
- 320 Tijuana1,557,695
- 335 Toluca1,505,035
- 371 León1,367,521
- 417 Torreón1,227,850
- 425 Ciudad Juárez1,212,370
How to read this: the figure in front of a name is where that city stands among the 12,138 cities the UN counted in 2025, and each bar is its people, on one scale per list. Numbers are missing where a city has fewer than 300,000 people and so has no page of its own.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Monterrey are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1975 to 2025, then projection to 2050. Projected years are drawn hatched, and the UN publishes no range of uncertainty for a city. What a city means here, how the UN measures one, and why that number can differ from the one Monterrey publishes about itself: how the figures here are put together.
Sources: UN WUP 2025 · Natural Earth · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries