The population of American cities grew rapidly because of the new industries. In the cities, streets were paved and sewers and water systems were developed. Boston built the nation's first subway in 1897. The invention of the skyscraper was made possible by the invention of the elevator and the development of cheaper steel.

Many of the new immigrants during the time of the industrial revolution came from Southern and Eastern Europe and lived in cities where jobs were plentiful. The new immigrants lived in overcrowded, unsafe tenements where diseases spread rapidly. Housing became a big problem. In 1871 in Chicago, a fire destroyed a third of the city, killed hundreds, and left 100,000 people homeless.

Most of the immigrants who arrived in the United States were poor and did not speak English. In 1889, Jane Addams started the nation's first community center, or settlement house, for the poor in Chicago. It provided services such as child care, education, and language lessons for immigrants. Many Americans wanted to stop immigrants from entering the United States. Laws limited European immigration in 1924 and eliminated Chinese immigration outright until 1943.