List of towns and cities in Scotland by population

This list of towns and cities in Scotland with a population of more than 15,000 is ordered by population, as defined and compiled by the National Records of Scotland organisation. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland by population, whilst the capital city, Edinburgh, is the second largest by population and largest by area. The city of Stirling has the smallest population amongst Scotland's cities, with an estimated population of just over 37,000 inhabitants. In total, Scotland consists of eight cities, with multiple larger towns, the largest town being Paisley.
The section "Localities" contains a list of basic populated areas ordered by population. The section "Settlements" is a list of populated urban areas, some of which are composed of more than one locality, and which may span across the boundaries of more than one council area.
All localities are either settlements themselves, or contained within larger settlements. As of 2020, there are 656 localities in Scotland, and 514 settlements.

Localities

In Scotland, "locality" refers to a populated area composed of contiguous postcodes with populations of at least 500. The 52 localities with a population over 15,000 are listed below.

Rank	Locality	Population	Status	Council area	Historic County
1	Glasgow		City	Glasgow City	Lanarkshire
2	Edinburgh		City	City of [Edinburgh Council\|City of Edinburgh]	Midlothian
3	Aberdeen		City	Aberdeen City	Aberdeenshire
4	Dundee		City	Dundee City	Angus
5	Paisley		Town	Renfrewshire	Renfrewshire
6	East Kilbride		Town	South Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
7	Livingston		Town	West Lothian	West Lothian
8	Dunfermline		City	Fife	Fife
9	Hamilton		Town	South Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
10	Cumbernauld		Town	North Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
11	Kirkcaldy		Town	Fife	Fife
12	Inverness		City	Highland	Inverness-shire
13	Perth		City	Perth and Kinross	Perth
14	Kilmarnock		Town	East Ayrshire	Ayrshire
15	Ayr		Town	South Ayrshire	Ayrshire
16	Coatbridge		Town	North Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
17	Greenock		Town	Inverclyde	Renfrewshire
18	Glenrothes		Town	Fife	Fife
19	Stirling		City	Stirling	Stirlingshire
20	Airdrie		Town	North Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
21	Falkirk		Town	Falkirk	Stirlingshire
22	Irvine		Town	North Ayrshire	Ayrshire
23	Dumfries		Town	Dumfries and Galloway	Dumfriesshire
24	Motherwell		Town	North Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
25	Rutherglen		Town	South Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
26	Cambuslang		Town	South Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
27	Wishaw		Town	North Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
28	Bearsden		Town	East Dunbartonshire	Dunbartonshire
29	Newton Mearns		Town	East Renfrewshire	Renfrewshire
30	Clydebank		Town	West Dunbartonshire	Dunbartonshire
31	Elgin		Town	Moray	Moray
32	Renfrew		Town	Renfrewshire	Renfrewshire
33	Bishopbriggs		Town	East Dunbartonshire	Lanarkshire
34	Bathgate		Town	West Lothian	West Lothian
35	Arbroath		Town	Angus	Angus
36	Kirkintilloch		Town	East Dunbartonshire	Dunbartonshire
37	Musselburgh		Town	East Lothian	Midlothian
38	Dumbarton		Town	West Dunbartonshire	Dunbartonshire
39	Bellshill		Town	North Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
40	Peterhead		Town	Aberdeenshire	Aberdeenshire
41	St Andrews		Town	Fife	Fife
42	Bonnyrigg		Town	Midlothian	Midlothian
43	Barrhead		Town	East Renfrewshire	Renfrewshire
44	Blantyre		Town	South Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
45	Penicuik		Town	Midlothian	Midlothian
46	Grangemouth		Town	Falkirk	Stirlingshire
47	Kilwinning		Town	North Ayrshire	Ayrshire
48	Broxburn		Town	West Lothian	West Lothian
49	Johnstone		Town	Renfrewshire	Renfrewshire
50	Viewpark		Town	North Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
51	Larkhall		Town	South Lanarkshire	Lanarkshire
52	Erskine		Town	Renfrewshire	Renfrewshire

Settlements

In Scotland, 'settlement' refers to a collection of contiguous high density postcodes bounded by low density postcodes whose population was 500 or more. For example, the area of Ayr includes the adjoining localities of Ayr, Monkton and Prestwick. However, most settlements coincide to a single locality. The 43 settlements with a population over 15,000 are listed below.

Rank	Urban sub-area	Population	Localities	Council areas
1	Greater Glasgow		Barrhead, Bearsden, Bishopbriggs, Bowling, [West Dunbartonshire\|Bowling], Brookfield, Busby, Cambuslang, Clarkston, Clydebank, Duntocher & Hardgate, Elderslie, Faifley, Giffnock, Glasgow, Johnstone, Kilbarchan, Linwood, Milngavie, Netherlee, Newton Mearns, Old Kilpatrick, Paisley, Renfrew, Rutherglen, Stamperland, Stepps, Thornliebank	Glasgow City, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire
2	Edinburgh		Edinburgh, Musselburgh, Wallyford	City of Edinburgh, East Lothian
3	Aberdeen		Aberdeen, Cove Bay, Dyce, Milltimber, Peterculter	Aberdeen City
4	Dundee		Dundee, Monifieth, Invergowrie	Dundee City, Angus, Perth and Kinross
5	Motherwell & Wishaw		Bellshill, Carfin, Holytown, Motherwell, New Stevenston, Newarthill, Newmains, Viewpark, Wishaw	North Lanarkshire
6	Falkirk		Brightons, Carron, Carronshore, Falkirk, Grangemouth, Larbert, Laurieston, Maddiston, Polmont, Redding, Reddingmuirhead, Rumford, Stenhousemuir, Wallacestone, Westquarter	Falkirk
7	Coatbridge & Airdrie		Airdrie, Bargeddie, Chapelhall, Coatbridge	North Lanarkshire
8	Hamilton		Blantyre, Bothwell, Hamilton, Uddingston	South Lanarkshire
9	Dunfermline		Crossgates, Dunfermline, Inverkeithing, Rosyth	Fife
10	East Kilbride		East Kilbride	South Lanarkshire
11	Livingston		Livingston, Mid Calder, Polbeth, West Calder	West Lothian
12	Greenock		Gourock, Greenock, Port Glasgow	Inverclyde
13	Inverness		Balloch, Culloden, Milton of Leys, Inverness, Smithton, Westhill	Highland
14	Ayr		Ayr, Monkton, Prestwick	South Ayrshire
15	Bonnyrigg, Dalkeith & Gorebridge		Bonnyrigg, Dalkeith, Gorebridge, Mayfield, Newbattle	Midlothian
16	Cumbernauld		Croy, Cumbernauld	North Lanarkshire
17	Kilmarnock		Crookedholm, Hurlford, Kilmarnock	East Ayrshire
18	Kirkcaldy		Kirkcaldy & Dysart	Fife
19	Stirling		Bannockburn, Bridge of Allan, Stirling	Stirling
20	Perth		Perth	Perth and Kinross
21	Glenrothes		Coaltown of Balgonie, Glenrothes, Leslie, Markinch, Thornton	Fife
22	Irvine		Dreghorn, Irvine	North Ayrshire
23	Dumfries		Dumfries	Dumfries and Galloway
24	Saltcoats		Ardrossan, Saltcoats, Stevenston	North Ayrshire
25	Methil, Leven & Buckhaven		Buckhaven, Kennoway, Leven, Methil, Windygates	Fife
26	Kirkintilloch		Kirkintilloch, Lenzie	East Dunbartonshire
27	Bathgate		Bathgate, Blackburn	West Lothian
28	Bonnybridge		Banknock, Bonnybridge, Denny, Dennyloanhead, Dunipace, Greenhill, Haggs, Head of Muir, High Bonnybridge, Longcroft	Falkirk
29	Elgin		Elgin	Moray
30	Vale of Leven		Alexandria, Balloch & Haldane, Bonhill, Renton	West Dunbartonshire
31	Arbroath		Arbroath	Angus
32	Dumbarton		Dumbarton, Milton	West Dunbartonshire
33	Alloa		Alloa, Sauchie	Clackmannanshire
34	Cowdenbeath		Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Lumphinnans	Fife
35	Peterhead		Peterhead	Aberdeenshire
36	St Andrews		St Andrews	Fife
37	Erskine		Erskine, Inchinnan	Renfrewshire
38	Larkhall		Ashgill, Larkhall	South Lanarkshire
39	Penicuik		Penicuik	Midlothian
40	Kilwinning		Kilwinning	North Ayrshire
41	Broxburn		Broxburn	West Lothian
42	Galashiels		Galashiels, Langlee, Tweedbank	Scottish Borders
43	Helensburgh		Helensburgh, Rhu	Argyll and Bute