Throughout the history of architecture, there has been a continual quest for height. Thousands of workers toiled on the pyramids of ancient Egypt, the cathedrals of Europe and countless other towers, all striving to create something awe-inspiring. People build tall buildings primarily because they are convenient – you can create a lot of real estate out of a relatively small ground area.
But ego and grandeur do sometimes play a significant role in the scope of the construction, just as it did in earlier civilizations. Up until relatively recently, we could only go so high. After a certain point, it just wasn’t feasible to keep building up. In the late 1800s, new technology redefined these limits. Suddenly, it was possible to live and work in colossal towers, hundreds of feet above the ground.
Here are the top 20 tallest buildings in the United States.
| Rank | Building | Height |
| 1. | One World Trade Center | 541.3 m (1,776 ft) |
| 2. | Central Park Tower | 472.4 m (1,550 ft) |
| 3. | Willis Tower | 442 m (1,450 ft) |
| 4. | 111 West 57th Street | 435.3 m (1,428 ft) |
| 5. | One Vanderbilt | 427 m (1,401 ft) |
| 6. | 432 Park Avenue | 425.5 m (1,396 ft) |
| 7. | Trump International Hotel and Tower | 423.2 m (1,388 ft) |
| 8. | 30 Hudson Yards | 395 m (1,296 ft) |
| 9. | Empire State Building | 381 m (1,250 ft) |
| 10. | Bank of America Tower | 365.8 m (1,200 ft) |
| 11. | St. Regis Chicago | 365 m (1,198 ft) |
| 12. | Aon Center | 346.3 m (1,136 ft) |
| 13. | 875 North Michigan Avenue | 343.5 m (1,127 ft) |
| 14. | Comcast Technology Center | 341.7 m (1,121 ft) |
| 15. | Wilshire Grand Center | 335.3 m (1,100 ft) |
| 16. | 3 World Trade Center | 329 m (1,079 ft) |
| 17. | Salesforce Tower | 326.1 m (1,070 ft) |
| 18. | The Brooklyn Tower | 324.9 m (1,066 ft) |
| 19. | 53W53 | 320 m (1,050 ft) |
| 20. | Chrysler Building | 318 m (1,043 ft) |
| The New York Times Building | 318 m (1,043 ft) | |
| The Spiral | 318 m (1,043 ft) |
