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 Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Greater Cleveland.^{[citation needed]} 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, 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates:

Rank	MSA	Metropolitan Area	Metropolitan Division	State(s)	Population
1	5600	New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island		NY–NJ–PA	18,747,320
			Edison	NJ	2,303,709
			Nassau–Suffolk	NY	2,808,064
			Newark–Union	NJ–PA	2,152,978
			New York–White Plains–Wayne	NY–NJ	11,482,569
2	4480	Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana		CA	12,923,547
			Los Angeles–Long Beach–Glendale	CA	9,935,475
			Santa Ana–Anaheim–Irvine	CA	2,988,072
3	1600	Chicago–Naperville–Joliet		IL–IN–WI	9,443,356
			Chicago–Naperville–Joliet	IL	7,882,729
			Gary	IN	697,401
			Lake County–Kenosha County	IL–WI	863,226
4	6160	Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington		PA–NJ–DE–MD	5,823,233
			Camden	NJ	1,245,902
			Philadelphia	PA	3,890,181
			Wilmington	DE–NJ–MD	687,150
5	2800	Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington		TX	5,819,475
			Dallas–Plano–Irving	TX	3,893,123
			Fort Worth–Arlington	TX	1,926,352
6	5000	Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Miami Beach		FL	5,422,200
			Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach–Deerfield Beach	FL	1,777,638
			Miami–Miami Beach–Kendall	FL	2,376,014
			West Palm Beach–Boca Raton–Boynton Beach	FL	1,268,548
7	3360	Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown		TX	5,280,077
8	511	Washington–Arlington–Alexandria		DC–VA–MD–WV	5,214,666
			Bethesda–Frederick–Gaithersburg	MD	1,148,284
			Washington–Arlington–Alexandria	DC–MD–VA–WV	4,066,382
9	520	Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Marietta		GA	4,917,717
10	2160	Detroit–Warren–Livonia		MI	4,488,335
			Detroit–Livonia–Dearborn	MI	1,998,217
			Warren–Troy–Farmington Hills	MI	2,490,118
11	1120	Boston–Cambridge–Quincy		MA–NH	4,411,835
			Boston–Quincy	MA	1,800,432
			Cambridge–Newton–Framingham	MA	1,459,011
			Essex County	MA	738,301
			Rockingham County–Strafford County	NH	414,091
12	7360	San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont		CA	4,152,688
			Oakland–Fremont–Hayward	CA	2,466,692
			San Francisco–San Mateo–Redwood City	CA	1,685,996
13	6780	Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario		CA	3,909,954
14	6200	Phoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale		AZ	3,865,077
15	4600	Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue		WA	3,203,314
			Seattle–Bellevue–Everett	WA	2,449,527
			Tacoma	WA	753,787
16	5120	Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington		MN-WI	3,142,779
17	7320	San Diego–Carlsbad–San Marcos		CA	2,933,462
18	7040	St. Louis		MO–IL	2,778,518
19	720	Baltimore–Towson		MD	2,655,675
20	8280	Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater		FL	2,647,658
21	6280	Pittsburgh		PA–WV	2,386,074
22	2080	Denver–Aurora		CO	2,359,994
23	1680	Cleveland–Elyria–Mentor		OH	2,126,318
24	6440	Portland–Vancouver–Beaverton		OR–WA	2,095,861
25	3200	Cincinnati–Middletown		OH	2,070,441

For a complete list, see List of United States metropolitan areas.

External links

See also

External links