This list is somewhat unique in that it draws on materials for people who learn Chinese as a second language, i.e. textbooks, graded readers and so on (read more about the methodology here). The site presents a search interface, but you can also download excel spreadsheets. Simplified Chinese with Pinyin. This list comes very close to what I would consider most useful for second language learners.

This resource was discussed in this article: The most common Chinese words, characters and components for language learners and teachers