An example involves determining a first cost associated with assigning routing information for a subset of virtual private networks (VPNs) to a first subset of linecards of a router by determining a cost as a sum of: a first product of (1) a first number of routes associated with a first VPN of the first subset of the VPNs and (2) a number of the linecards included in the first subset of the linecards; and a second product of (1) a second number of routes associated with a second VPN of the first subset of the VPNs and (2) the number of the linecards included in the first subset of the linecards. The first subset of the linecards is configured with routing information for the first subset of the VPNs when the first subset of the VPNs is assigned to the first subset of the linecards based on the cost.