Assam has the largest urban population of 4.3 million (Census 2011) amongst the North-eastern States. Guwahati has about 0.9 million urban population, while the other large cities of the state are Nagaon (population 116,355), Dibrugarh (population 138,661) and Silchar (population 172,709). This indicates that other than the concentration of more than 25% urban population of Assam in Guwahati and surrounding urban agglomeration, Assam has a well distributed urban population across the state. The state’s level of urbanization is 14 per cent in the Census 2011, which is a 1.2 percentage point increase over the Census 2001 urbanization level of 12.9 per cent. However, it is lower than the all-India annual rate of urbanization which is 2.82 per cent per annum in 2001-2011 (Source: Population Census of India, 2011 from the population census website: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/PPT_2.html)
As per the percentage of urban population to total population in Census 2011, the districts of Assam are ranked as follows:
| Rank in 2011 | District | Percentage of Urban Population | Percentage of Urban Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2001 | ||
| 1 | Kamrup Metropolitan | 82.9 | 80.23 |
| 2 | DimaHasao | 28.7 | 31.60 |
| 3 | Jorhat | 20.1 | 17.15 |
| 4 | Tinsukia | 20.0 | 19.47 |
| 5 | Dibrugarh | 18.4 | 19.28 |
| 6 | Cachar | 18.2 | 13.94 |
| 7 | Bongaigaon | 13.8 | 15.87 |
| 8 | Goalpara | 13.7 | 8.14 |
| 9 | Nagaon | 13.0 | 12.2 |
| 10 | KarbiAnglong | 11.8 | 11.30 |
| 11 | Nalbari | 10.7 | 3.99 |
| 12 | Dhubri | 10.4 | 12.29 |
| 13 | Sivsagar | 9.6 | 9.24 |
| 14 | Kamrup | 9.4 | 4.43 |
| 15 | Golaghat | 9.2 | 8.54 |
| 16 | Karimganj | 9.1 | 7.33 |
| 17 | Sonitpur | 8.9 | 10.56 |
| 18 | Lakhimpur | 8.8 | 7.33 |
| 19 | Barpeta | 8.7 | 9.10 |
| 20 | Morigaon | 7.7 | 4.89 |
| 21 | Chirang | 7.4 | 5.77 |
| 22 | Hailakandi | 7.3 | 8.12 |
| 23 | Dhemaji | 7.0 | 6.79 |
| 24 | Kokrajhar | 6.2 | 6.11 |
| 25 | Darrang | 6.1 | 5.49 |
| 26 | Udalguri | 4.5 | 4.37 |
| 27 | Baksa | 1.3 | 0.00 |
Source: Provisional Population Totals, Paper 2, Vol 2 of 2011 Census, Chapter IV, pp.48
The total number of Urban Agglomeration/Town has increased from 110 in Census 2001 to 189 in Census 2011. The urbanization of Assam in the last decade is encapsulated in the following table:
| Census Year | Total UAs/Towns | Total Population | Total Urban Population | Percent Urban Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 110 | 26655528 | 3439240 | 12.90 |
| 2011 | 189 | 31169272 | 4388756 | 14.08 |
Source: Provisional Population Totals, Paper 2, Vol 2 of 2011 Census, Chapter IV, pp.49
There are a total of 97 Notified towns in Assam. This excludes the Census towns, which do not fall under the jurisdiction of T&CP.The summary of their size-class is given in the following table:
| Class-size | Population | No of towns |
|---|---|---|
| Class I towns | 1 lakh and above | 3 |
| Class-II towns | 50000 to 99999 | 9 |
| Class III towns | 20000 to 49999 | 23 |
| Class IV towns | 10000 to 19999 | 33 |
| Class V towns | 5000 to 9999 | 17 |
| Class VI towns | Below 5000 | 10 |
| TOTAL Statutory Towns | 95 (excluding Guwahati M.Corp) | |
* TC – Town Committee, MB- Municipal Board