First and second cities

[Sporting]

Aren't most state capitals much smaller than the largest city? Look at Albany for a start

Evidently there are 33 such examples. (Can't link from my phone.)

[San Bernardhinault]

I believe that was a deliberate move early on. A lot of states wanted their capitals to (a) be a bit more central to the state (b) not dominated by the politics of the major city. So, Albany and Harrisburg in particular come to mind, but also places like Springfield, Il.

[Sporting]

https://www.infoplease.com/us/states...largest-cities

[ursus arctos]

Yes, it was deliberate and/or the result of a "compromise" that didn't favour the delegations of either of the larger cities.

Geographic considerations (not wanting the capital to be on the edge of a large state) also played a part in some cases, including New York and Pennsylvania.

[S. aureus]

Some of the capitals in the Western states, at least, were the largest cities (or thereabouts, anyway) when they became the capital, but have since been eclipsed. Take Nevada - Carson City was the largest city* in Nevada in 1864, and it would be almost another half century before Las Vegas even existed. Several of the Western states became states before a great deal of urbanization occurred, unlike the East.

*I don't immediately see population details for 1864, so it's possible Reno may have been slightly larger - it was in 1860 but not by 1870.

[ursus arctos]

In large part because the US Mint was in Carson City, which was the closest settlement to the silver mines (all of these factors are obviously connected).