United States metropolitan area

From Academic Kids

(Redirected from United States metropolitan areas)

In the United States, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has produced a formal definition of metropolitan areas, which are organized around county boundaries. These are referred to as "Metropolitan Statistical Areas" (MSAs).

MSAs are official, but users should consider that they are solely statistical groupings. The definitions used in the current census differ from previous censuses, making direct comparison difficult. Users should also be careful 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.

As of February 2005, 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 counties 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 2000 Census:

Rank	Metropolitan Area	Metropolitan Division	States/Territories	Population	Other names*
1	New York--Northern New Jersey--Long Island		NY--NJ--CT	18,323,002	Tri-state Area, New York area, Greater New York
-		Edison, NJ	NJ	2,173,869
-		Nassau-Suffolk, NY	NY	2,753,913	Long Island
-		Newark-Union	NJ	2,098,843
-		New York-Wayne-White Plains	NJ, NY	11,296,377
2	Los Angeles--Long Beach--Santa Ana		CA	12,365,627	The Southland, Southern California (The latter also refers to the entire southern portion of the state)
-		Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale	CA	9,519,338	Greater Los Angeles, LA Area
-		Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine	CA	2,846,289	Orange County Area, OC
3	Chicago--Naperville--Joliet		IL--IN--WI	9,098,316	Chicagoland, Greater Chicago, Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana (the latter refers to the eastern part extended until South Bend, Indiana)
-		Chicago-Naperville-Joliet	IL	7,628,412	Chicagoland, Greater Chicago
-		Gary	IN	675,971	Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana
-		Lake County-Kenosha County	IL--WI	793,933
4	Philadelphia--Camden--Wilmington		PA--NJ--DE--MD	5,687,147	The Delaware Valley, Tri-state Area
-		Camden	NJ	1,186,999
-		Philadelphia	PA	3,849,647
-		Wilmington	DE--NJ--MD	650,501
5	Dallas--Fort Worth--Arlington		TX	5,161,544	The Metroplex, DFW
-		Dallas-Plano-Irving	TX	3,451,226
-		Fort Worth-Arlington	TX	1,710,318
6	Miami--Fort Lauderdale--Miami Beach		FL	5,007,564	South Florida metropolitan area
-		Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach	FL	1,623,018
-		Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall	FL	2,253,362	Metro Dade
-		West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach	FL	1,131,184
7	Washington--Arlington--Alexandria		DC--VA--MD--WV	4,796,183	Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area (now defunct)
-		Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg	MD	1,068,618
-		Washington-Arlington-Alexandria	DC--VA--MD--WV	3,727,565
8	Houston--Sugar Land--Baytown		TX	4,715,407	Houston Metropolitan Area
9	Detroit--Warren--Livonia		MI	4,452,557	Metro Detroit, Southeast Michigan, Southeastern Lower Michigan**
-		Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn	MI	2,061,162	Metro Detroit
-		Warren-Farmington Hills-Troy	MI	2,391,395
10	Boston--Cambridge--Quincy		MA--NH	4,391,344	Greater Boston
-		Boston-Quincy	MA	1,812,937
-		Cambridge-Newton-Framingham	MA	1,465,396
-		Essex County	MA	723,419
-		Rockingham County-Strafford County	NH	389,592
11	Atlanta--Sandy Springs--Marietta		GA	4,247,981	Atlanta Metropolitan Area
12	San Francisco--Oakland--Fremont		CA	4,123,740	The Bay Area***
-		Oakland-Fremont-Hayward	CA	2,392,557	East Bay
-		San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City	CA	1,731,183	The City (San Francisco only), The Peninsula (San Mateo County only), Marin (Marin County Only)
13	Riverside--San Bernardino--Ontario		CA	3,254,821	Inland Empire
14	Phoenix--Mesa--Scottsdale		AZ	3,251,876	The Valley of the Sun
15	Seattle--Tacoma--Bellevue		WA	3,043,878	Greater Puget Sound
-		Seattle-Bellevue-Everett	WA	2,343,058
-		Tacoma	WA	700,820
16	Minneapolis--St. Paul--Bloomington		MN--WI	2,968,806	The Twin Cities****
17	San Diego--Carlsbad--San Marcos		CA	2,813,833
18	St. Louis		MO--IL	2,698,687	Greater St. Louis
19	Baltimore--Towson		MD	2,552,994
�	San Juan--Caguas--Guaynabo		PR	2,509,007
20	Pittsburgh		PA	2,431,087
21	Tampa--St. Petersburg--Clearwater		FL	2,395,997	Tampa Bay Area
22	Denver--Aurora		CO	2,179,240
23	Cleveland--Elyria--Mentor		OH	2,148,143	Greater Cleveland, Northeast Ohio
24	Cincinnati--Middletown		OH--KY--IN	2,009,632
25	Portland--Vancouver--Beaverton		OR--WA	1,927,881

* Not necessarily equivalent to the Census definition of the metropolitan area.
** This metropolitan area of Detroit does not include certain outlying areas considered to be in Southeast Michigan, such as Genesee and Livingston Counties, nor does it include Canadian cities. A larger metropolitan area containing the Windsor, Ontario area is used internationally.
*** The Bay Area is a much larger area than the OMB's rather limited MSA, corresponding more closely to the San Jose - San Francisco - Oakland Combined Statistical Area
**** The main cities of the Twin Cities are generally considered to be Minneapolis and St. Paul; Bloomington is generally considered to be a suburb of the two even though it is in a three-way tie for the third largest city in Minnesota.
� The Census Bureau ranks Puerto Rican cities separately. This is where the San Juan metro area would rank if it were included with state data.