Well if everything is just based on population then we’re not talking about the same things. Importance of the city should factor in amongst many other things. Nashville and Vegas are in the second tier. My rough list. Moved KC down to tier 3 actually.
Tier 1: NY, LA, Chicago, Miami, Seattle, Philly, DC, SF, Atlanta, Boston
Tier 2: Nashville, Vegas, Orlando, Portland, Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Dallas, Houston, Austin
Tier 3: KC ( very close to tier 2), St. Louis, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Ohio 3C’s, New Orleans, Detroit, SLC, S.A., Indianapolis (barely, worse place to exist in the USA imo)
Tier 4: Sacramento, Grand Rapids, Jacksonville, Memphis, Baltimore, Buffalo, OKC, Providence, San Jose
Tier 5: Wichita, Omaha, Albuquerque, Tucson, Knoxville, Birmingham, Des Moines (barely, could be off the list), Boise, Louisville, Fresno, Madison
Didn’t rate: Honolulu, pretty unique situation there. Not an exhaustive list, just off the top of my head.