When To Apply Pre-Emergent To A Lawn By City (USA)

Below you’ll find a sortable list of the 100 most populous cities in the United States of America as reported by World Population Review (2024).

Using the rolling average 10-year soil temperatures of these cities (via Greencast) I’ve included the average date that pre-emergent is best applied to lawns to prevent weeds after smoothing out the annual curve.

The dates provided below are “best guesses” based on averages so perfect precision should never be assumed.

Please note – that for locations that cross 55 degrees late in the Spring I tend to think early application is better than being on time. Also, these locations tend to have short warm seasons so using certain types of pre-emergent may make Fall overseeding difficult. You can learn more about which pre-emergents are better to use in a variety of different scenarios on this page.

The 100 Biggest Cities In The USA
*Click on the headers of this table to sort.*
City	State	Population	Estimated App Date
Miami	Florida	0,464,544	*Never Drops To 55
Tampa	Florida	0,408,733	*Never Drops To 55
Chula Vista	California	0,283,494	*Never Drops To 55
Honolulu	Hawaii	0,337,075	*Never Drops To 55
Port St. Lucie	Florida	0,259,564	*Never Drops To 55
Laredo	Texas	0,256,771	*Never Drops To 55
Cape Coral	Florida	0,243,026	*Never Drops To 55
Corpus Christi	Texas	0,313,061	*Never Drops To 55
St. Petersburg	Florida	0,265,602	*Never Drops To 55
Orlando	Florida	0,328,535	01-19
San Diego	California	1,394,518	01-23
Irvine	California	0,330,863	01-24
Los Angeles	California	3,790,742	01-26
Santa Ana	California	0,307,025	01-26
Anaheim	California	0,341,035	01-27
New Orleans	Louisiana	0,355,121	01-29
Glendale	Arizona	0,256,662	01-29
Jacksonville	Florida	1,000,135	01-31
Long Beach	California	0,445,253	01-31
San Antonio	Texas	1,510,687	02-04
Phoenix	Arizona	1,682,515	02-05
Riverside	California	0,334,468	02-06
Gilbert	Arizona	0,279,268	02-07
Houston	Texas	2,325,324	02-08
Scottsdale	Arizona	0,243,590	02-08
Chandler	Arizona	0,283,175	02-08
Bakersfield	California	0,413,783	02-08
Mesa	Arizona	0,518,816	02-10
Austin	Texas	0,984,655	02-18
El Paso	Texas	0,675,418	02-20
Fresno	California	0,548,881	02-25
Tucson	Arizona	0,557,254	02-27
Arlington	Texas	0,397,250	02-27
Irving	Texas	0,255,023	02-27
Garland	Texas	0,238,184	02-28
Fort Worth	Texas	0,995,049	03-01
San Jose	California	0,950,767	03-01
Henderson	Nevada	0,349,403	03-02
North Las Vegas	Nevada	0,299,381	03-02
San Francisco	California	0,802,805	03-01
Stockton	California	0,320,243	03-01
Las Vegas	Nevada	0,667,282	03-02
Oakland	California	0,419,077	03-03
Lubbock	Texas	0,269,392	03-07
Dallas	Texas	1,317,210	03-08
Frisco	Texas	0,236,599	03-08
Atlanta	Georgia	0,512,047	03-08
Plano	Texas	0,291,249	03-08
Sacramento	California	0,532,101	03-09
Tulsa	Oklahoma	0,410,061	03-15
Durham	North Carolina	0,297,430	03-15
Raleigh	North Carolina	0,489,977	03-17
Charlotte	North Carolina	0,928,154	03-17
Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	0,707,678	03-21
Albuquerque	New Mexico	0,556,808	03-21
Wichita	Kansas	0,395,218	03-21
Greensboro	North Carolina	0,304,895	03-21
Winston-Salem	North Carolina	0,252,206	03-21
Memphis	Tennessee	0,611,204	03-22
Nashville	Tennessee	0,694,598	03-23
Virginia Beach	Virginia	0,449,494	03-23
Richmond	Virginia	0,232,981	03-24
Chesapeake	Virginia	0,253,986	03-24
Louisville	Kentucky	0,617,914	03-27
Baltimore	Maryland	0,555,831	03-28
Washington	DC	0,677,827	03-30
Arlington	Virginia	0,235,845	03-30
St. Louis	Missouri	0,272,610	03-31
Lexington	Kentucky	0,320,095	04-03
Newark	New Jersey	0,301,408	04-03
Cincinatti	Ohio	0,311,169	04-03
New York City	New York	8,089,689	04-06
Portland	Oregon	0,618,451	04-06
Indianapolis	Indiana	0,877,023	04-08
Seattle	Washington	0,784,754	04-09
Kansas City	Missouri	0,509,993	04-09
Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	1,522,814	04-10
Toledo	Ohio	0,621,415	04-10
Chicago	Illinois	2,599,059	04-11
Pittsburg	Pennsylvania	0,297,812	04-11
Jersey City	New Jersey	0,290,726	04-11
Columbus	Ohio	0,917,811	04-11
Fort Wayne	Indiana	0,271,037	04-14
Reno	Nevada	0,280,294	04-16
Spokane	Washington	0,231,132	04-17
Boston	Massachusetts	0,643,044	04-18
Cleveland	Ohio	0,354,043	04-18
Denver	Colorado	0,717,110	04-20
Omaha	Nebraska	0,478,443	04-21
Detroit	Michigan	0,604,794	04-21
Lincoln	Nebraska	0,294,929	04-21
Colorado Springs	Colorado	0,492,088	04-22
Minneapolis	Minnesota	0,426,018	04-22
St Paul	Minnesota	0,295,228	04-24
Milwaukee	Wisconsin	0,558,235	04-25
Madison	Wisconsin	0,282,967	04-25
Buffalo	New York	0,273,768	04-25
Aurora	Colorado	0,399,871	04-26
Boise	Idaho	0,233,860	04-28
Anchorage	Alaska	0,284,031	05-10

* If your location never experiences soil temperatures below 55-degrees then the general rule of thumb for “Spring” pre-emergent application is mid-January unless you applied a pre-emergent in late Fall within the preceding three months.

Which Preemergent should I use? – It’s not the same for everybody everywhere. For more info see this post.

Extra Weed Pre-Emergent Info

Videos From My YouTube Channel

How To Prevent Weeds In The Lawn

When Is It OK To Put Pre-Emergent Down?

Fall Pre-Emergent Application

Pre-Emergent Mistakes

Pre-Emergents Vs Soil Temperatures

This info was curated by Brian Mounts (Turf Mechanic) using data from Greencast and World Population Review. If you’d like to comment or pose any questions to me you may reach me by email – brian@turfmechanic.com.

The 100 Biggest Cities In The USA

Extra Weed Pre-Emergent Info