UNITED STATES METROPOLITAN AREA

(Redirected from Metropolitan Statistical Area)
In the United States, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has produced a formal definition of metropolitan areas. These are referred to as "Metropolitan Statistical Areas" (MSAs) and "Combined Statistical Areas." An earlier version of the MSA was the "Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area" (SMSA). MSAs are composed of counties[1]. In New England, because of the greater importance of towns over counties, similar areas based on town units, known as New England City and Town Areas (NECTAs), are additionally defined.
MSAs are delineated on the basis of a central 'urbanized area'—a contiguous area of relatively high population density. The counties containing the core urbanized area are known as the 'central counties' of the MSA. Additional surrounding counties (known as 'outlying counties') can be included in the MSA if these counties have strong social and economic ties to the central counties as measured by commuting and employment.
MSAs are used for official purposes, but they are not the only estimates of metro area populations available. The appropriate figures for some metro areas are much debated, and in some cases reputable sources provide figures which differ by millions. The most contentious examples include the Greater Los Angeles Area, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Greater Cleveland. The official definitions used for the last U.S. Census differed from those for previous censuses, making comparisons difficult even between official figures at different dates (comparing 2000 with 1990, Baltimore was separated from Washington, D.C., but West Palm Beach was combined with Miami-Fort Lauderdale, which made a considerable difference to the rankings of both metros). Care should also be taken when comparing MSA figures with population figures for cities or metro areas outside the U.S., which may be based on substantially different boundary systems and definitions of terms. Additionally, MSA boundaries do not stretch into neighboring Canada or Mexico, so the actual metropolitan populations of border cities such as Detroit, Buffalo, El Paso and San Diego are often substantially larger than their MSA figures.
As of June 2003, there is now an additional classification, that of a “Metropolitan Division.” The term metropolitan division is used to refer to a county or group of closely-tied contiguous counties that serve as a distinct employment region within a metropolitan statistical area that has a population core of at least 2.5 million. While a metropolitan division is a subdivision of a larger metropolitan statistical area, it often functions as a distinct social, economic, and cultural area within the larger region.
The following is a list of the 25 most populated metropolitan statistical areas and metropolitan divisions in the United States, according to the July 1, 2006 U.S. Census Bureau estimates:[2]

Rank	Metropolitan Area	Metropolitan Division	State(s)	Population
1	New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island		NY–NJ–PA	'18,818,536'
		Edison	NJ	2,308,777
		Nassau–Suffolk	NY	2,795,377
		Newark–Union	NJ–PA	2,152,757
		New York–White Plains–Wayne	NY–NJ	11,561,625
2	Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana		CA	'12,950,129'
		Los Angeles–Long Beach–Glendale	CA	9,948,081
		Santa Ana–Anaheim–Irvine	CA	3,002,048
3	Chicago–Naperville–Joliet		IL–IN–WI	'9,505,748'
		Chicago–Naperville–Joliet	IL	7,929,775
		Gary	IN	700,896
		Lake County–Kenosha County	IL–WI	875,077
4	Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington		TX	'6,003,967'
		Dallas–Plano–Irving	TX	4,019,499
		Fort Worth–Arlington	TX	1,984,468
5	Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington		PA–NJ–DE–MD	'5,826,742'
		Camden	NJ	1,249,659
		Philadelphia	PA	3,885,395
		Wilmington	DE–NJ–MD	691,688
6	Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown		TX	'5,539,949'
7	Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach		FL	'5,463,857'
		Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach–Deerfield Beach	FL	1,787,636
		Miami–Miami Beach–Kendall	FL	2,402,208
		West Palm Beach–Boca Raton–Boynton Beach	FL	1,274,013
8	Washington–Arlington–Alexandria		DC–VA–MD–WV	'5,290,400'
		Bethesda–Frederick–Gaithersburg	MD	1,155,069
		Washington–Arlington–Alexandria	DC–MD–VA–WV	4,135,331
9	Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Marietta		GA	'5,138,223'
10	Detroit–Warren–Livonia		MI	'4,468,966'
		Detroit–Livonia–Dearborn	MI	1,971,853
		Warren–Troy–Farmington Hills	MI	2,497,113
11	Boston–Cambridge–Quincy		MA–NH	'4,455,217'
		Boston–Quincy	MA	1,835,986
		Cambridge–Newton–Framingham	MA	1,467,016
		Essex County	MA	735,958
		Rockingham County–Strafford County	NH	416,257
12	San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont		CA	'4,180,027'
		Oakland–Fremont–Hayward	CA	2,481,745
		San Francisco–San Mateo–Redwood City	CA	1,698,282
13	Phoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale		AZ	'4,039,182'
14	Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario		CA	'4,026,135'
15	Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue		WA	'3,263,497'
		Seattle–Bellevue–Everett	WA	2,496,619
		Tacoma	WA	766,878
16	Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington		MN–WI	'3,175,041'
17	San Diego–Carlsbad–San Marcos[1]		CA	'2,941,454'
18	St. Louis		MO–IL	'2,796,368'
19	Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater		FL	'2,697,731'
20	Baltimore–Towson		MD	'2,658,405'
21	Denver–Aurora		CO	'2,408,750'
22	Pittsburgh		PA–WV	'2,370,776'
23	Portland–Vancouver–Beaverton		OR–WA	'2,137,565'
24	Cleveland–Elyria–Mentor		OH	'2,114,155'
25	Cincinnati–Middletown		OH	'2,104,218'

:''For all U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas, see the Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas.''
:''For the most populous U.S. metropolitan areas, see the Table of United States primary census statistical areas.''

Contents

Notes

See also

External links

Notes

1. The area is also included together with the city of Tijuana in Mexico in the bi-national conurbation known as the San Diego-Tijuana Metropolitan Area.

See also

★ Table of United States primary census statistical areas (PCSA)

★ Table of United States Combined Statistical Areas (CSA)

★ Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA)

★ Table of United States Micropolitan Statistical Areas (μSA)

★ Combined Statistical Area

★ Core Based Statistical Area

★ Micropolitan Statistical Area

★ Demographics of the United States

★ List of metropolitan areas by population

★ List of regions of the United States

★ United States micropolitan area

★ List of United States cities by population

★ List of the largest urban areas of the European Union by population

★ Largest metropolitan areas in the Americas

★ Megacity

★ World largest cities

External links

★ Table 1. Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2005

★ U.S. Census 2000 Metropolitan Area Rankings; ranked by population

★ U.S. Census 2000 Metropolitan Area Rankings

★ Definitions of all Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Metropolitan Divisions

★ U.S. Census Metropolitan Area Estimates (1990s)

★ U.S. Census Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Definitions