Removing labels based on population size

[ChrisHills]

I am using the maplex labelling system, and I would like to be able to specify a population field, so that when labels need to be removed, it starts by considering the features that have the lowest population first. Is this possible in ArcMap (>= 10.2) or would this be a feature request?

[WesMiller]

I don't have Maplex,but in the "layers properties" on the "labels" tab you can "define classes of features and label each differently" Maplex may have a similar feature.

[ChrisHills]

Thanks for the suggestion Wes. Yes this is available, but there are tens of thousands of points so I don't really want to have to create the associated label classes. Ideally I would like the label placement routine to take into account the population field when deciding which labels to remove.

[WesMiller]

Chris you could create 3 classes and give them the label weights "High","Medium", and "Low" then the labels should be prioritized like you want.

[JeffWard]

I don't think you can set it up to do it on the fly.  You may have to break your one layer based on a range of populations into several layers and put them in a group.  Then you can give each layer a label weight with the higher population layers having higher weight.

[ChrisHills]

That's what I thought Jeff. It would be nice if ArcMap (and Server) could do this on the fly!