United States metropolitan area

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See also: Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Table of United States Core Based Statistical Areas

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 and for some county equivalents^[1]. In New England, because of the greater importance of towns over counties, similar areas are defined based on town units, known as New England City and Town Areas (NECTAs).

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. Note that some areas within these outlying counties may actually be rural in nature.

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.^{[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.

1 Top 25
2 Notes
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Top 25

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, 2007 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	18,815,988
		Edison	NJ	2,319,704
		Nassau–Suffolk	NY	2,759,762
		Newark–Union	NJ-PA	2,128,679
		New York–White Plains–Wayne	NY-NJ	11,607,843
2	Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana		CA	12,875,587
		Los Angeles–Long Beach–Glendale		9,878,554
		Santa Ana–Anaheim–Irvine		2,997,033
3	Chicago–Naperville–Joliet		IL–IN–WI	9,524,673
		Chicago–Naperville–Joliet	IL	7,952,540
		Gary	IN	698,971
		Lake County–Kenosha County	IL–WI	873,162
4	Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington		TX	6,145,037
		Dallas–Plano–Irving		4,111,529
		Fort Worth–Arlington		2,033,508
5	Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington		PA–NJ–DE–MD	5,827,962
		Camden	NJ	1,246,339
		Philadelphia	PA	3,887,694
		Wilmington	DE–MD–NJ	693,929
6	Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown		TX	5,628,101
7	Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach		FL	5,413,212
		Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach–Deerfield Beach		1,759,591
		Miami–Miami Beach–Kendall		2,387,170
		West Palm Beach–Boca Raton–Boynton Beach		1,266,451
8	Washington–Arlington–Alexandria		DC–VA–MD–WV	5,306,565
		Bethesda-Gaithersburg–Frederick	MD	1,155,518
		Washington–Arlington–Alexandria	DC–MD–VA–WV	4,151,047
9	Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Marietta		GA	5,278,904
10	Boston–Cambridge–Quincy		MA–NH	4,482,857
		Boston–Quincy	MA	1,858,216
		Cambridge–Newton–Framingham		1,473,416
		Peabody		733,101
		Rockingham County–Strafford County	NH	418,124
11	Detroit–Warren–Livonia		MI	4,467,592
		Detroit–Livonia–Dearborn		1,985,101
		Warren–Troy–Farmington Hills		2,482,491
12	San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont		CA	4,203,898
		Oakland–Fremont–Hayward		2,483,842
		San Francisco–San Mateo–Redwood City		1,720,056
13	Phoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale		AZ	4,179,427
14	Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario		CA	4,081,371
15	Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue		WA	3,309,347
		Seattle–Bellevue–Everett		2,536,182
		Tacoma		773,165
16	Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington		MN–WI	3,208,212
17	San Diego–Carlsbad–San Marcos^[3]		CA	2,974,859
18	St. Louis		MO–IL	2,803,707
19	Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater		FL	2,723,949
20	Baltimore–Towson		MD	2,668,056
21	Denver–Aurora		CO	2,464,866
22	Pittsburgh		PA–WV	2,355,712
23	Portland–Vancouver–Beaverton		OR–WA	2,175,113
24	Cincinnati–Middletown		OH	2,133,678
25	Cleveland–Elyria–Mentor		OH	2,096,471