El Salvador: cities by population
El Salvador has a population of 6,391,253 (UN estimate, 2026), with San Salvador as its capital. The 50 largest of its 102 recorded towns and cities, ranked.
+8%
since 2000 (5,943,366)
+4%
projected by 2050 (6,663,346)
308
people per km²
Figures are the latest available in GeoNames (CC BY 4.0), which draws on national censuses of varying dates — treat them as recent, not same-year. Country totals are UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant) where the UN lists the country separately; the handful it reports under a parent state keep a GeoNames figure and are marked as such. Sources & method.
Largest cities in El Salvador
| # | Place | Region | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Salvador | San Salvador Department | 525,990 |
| 2 | Soyapango | San Salvador Department | 329,708 |
| 3 | San Miguel | San Miguel Department | 247,126 |
| 4 | Santa Ana | Santa Ana Department | 176,661 |
| 5 | Mejicanos | San Salvador Department | 160,317 |
| 6 | Santa Tecla | La Libertad Department | 124,694 |
| 7 | Apopa | San Salvador Department | 112,158 |
| 8 | Delgado | San Salvador Department | 71,594 |
| 9 | Sonsonate | Sonsonate Department | 59,468 |
| 10 | San Marcos | San Salvador Department | 54,615 |
| 11 | Usulután | Usulutan | 51,910 |
| 12 | Cojutepeque | Cuscatlan | 48,411 |
| 13 | Cuscatancingo | San Salvador Department | 44,369 |
| 14 | San Vicente | San Vicente Department | 41,504 |
| 15 | Zacatecoluca | La Paz Department | 39,613 |
| 16 | San Martín | Cuscatlan | 39,361 |
| 17 | Ilopango | San Salvador Department | 38,890 |
| 18 | Ahuachapán | Ahuachapan | 34,102 |
| 19 | Antiguo Cuscatlán | La Libertad Department | 33,767 |
| 20 | Chalchuapa | Santa Ana Department | 32,282 |
| 21 | Quezaltepeque | La Libertad Department | 28,886 |
| 22 | La Unión | La Union | 26,807 |
| 23 | Ayutuxtepeque | San Salvador Department | 25,426 |
| 24 | Acajutla | Sonsonate Department | 22,763 |
| 25 | Aguilares | San Salvador Department | 21,445 |
| 26 | Sensuntepeque | Cabanas | 20,386 |
| 27 | Chalatenango | Chalatenango Department | 19,364 |
| 28 | Izalco | Sonsonate Department | 19,197 |
| 29 | Metapán | Santa Ana Department | 19,143 |
| 30 | San Rafael Oriente | San Miguel Department | 19,095 |
| 31 | Puerto El Triunfo | Usulutan | 19,074 |
| 32 | La Libertad | La Libertad Department | 16,855 |
| 33 | San Francisco | Morazan | 16,152 |
| 34 | Sonzacate | Sonsonate Department | 15,446 |
| 35 | Santiago de María | Usulutan | 15,032 |
| 36 | Armenia | Sonsonate Department | 14,997 |
| 37 | Santo Tomás | San Salvador Department | 14,581 |
| 38 | Santa Rosa de Lima | La Union | 13,249 |
| 39 | Turín | Ahuachapan | 11,829 |
| 40 | Zaragoza | La Libertad Department | 11,749 |
| 41 | Berlín | Usulutan | 11,313 |
| 42 | Guazapa | San Salvador Department | 10,995 |
| 43 | Jucuapa | Usulutan | 10,601 |
| 44 | Ciudad Arce | La Libertad Department | 10,095 |
| 45 | Nueva Concepción | Chalatenango Department | 9,990 |
| 46 | Juayúa | Sonsonate Department | 9,936 |
| 47 | Santiago Nonualco | La Paz Department | 9,490 |
| 48 | El Tránsito | San Miguel Department | 9,485 |
| 49 | Atiquizaya | Ahuachapan | 9,476 |
| 50 | San Antonio del Monte | Sonsonate Department | 9,135 |
Twenty years earlier: El Salvador in the 2005 World Gazetteer — population then 6,467,548.
Common questions
What is the population of El Salvador?
El Salvador has a population of 6,391,253, the UN World Population Prospects estimate for 2026. The UN's medium-variant projection for 2050 is 6,663,346 — a forecast, not a measurement.
What is the capital of El Salvador?
San Salvador.