United States metropolitan area

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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.

[edit] Notes

^ 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.