 Cincinnati is within a day's drive of 49.70% of the United States populace, ranking it as fourth in the list of metro areas with the largest population base within one day's drive time.In the 19th century, Cincinnati was an American boomtown in the middle of the country.Throughout much of the 19th century, it was listed among the top 10 U.S. cities by population, surpassed only by New Orleans and the older, established settlements of the United States eastern seaboard, as well as being the sixth-biggest city for a period spanning 1840 until 1860.