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Contents 1 Definition issues 2 Top 25 3 Notes 4 See also 5 External links

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).

[edit] Definition issues

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 boundaries - and therefore population 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, United States MSA boundaries do not stretch into neighboring countries such as Canada or Mexico, so border cities such as Detroit, Buffalo, El Paso and San Diego would count only U.S. population 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.

[edit] Top 25

As of July 2008, 83.6 % of the population of the United States lives in a Metropolitan area.^[2] The following is a list of the 25 most populous metropolitan statistical areas and metropolitan divisions in the United States, according to the July 1, 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates:^[3]

Rank	Metropolitan Area	Metropolitan Division	State(s)	Population
1	New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island		NY–NJ–PA	19,006,798
		Edison	NJ	2,325,224
		Nassau–Suffolk	NY	2,863,849
		Newark–Union	NJ-PA	2,121,076
		New York–White Plains–Wayne	NY-NJ	11,696,649
2	Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana		CA	12,872,808
		Los Angeles–Long Beach–Glendale		9,862,049
		Santa Ana–Anaheim–Irvine		3,010,759
3	Chicago–Naperville–Joliet		IL–IN–WI	9,569,624
		Chicago–Naperville–Joliet	IL	7,990,248
		Gary	IN	702,458
		Lake County–Kenosha County	IL–WI	876,918
4	Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington		TX	6,300,006
		Dallas–Plano–Irving		4,226,003
		Fort Worth–Arlington		2,074,003
5	Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington		PA–NJ–DE–MD	5,838,471
		Camden	NJ	1,250,569
		Philadelphia	PA	3,892,194
		Wilmington	DE–MD–NJ	695,708
6	Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown		TX	5,728,143
7	Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach		FL	5,414,772
		Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach–Deerfield Beach		1,751,234
		Miami–Miami Beach–Kendall		2,398,245
		West Palm Beach–Boca Raton–Boynton Beach		1,265,293
8	Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Marietta		GA	5,376,285
9	Washington–Arlington–Alexandria		DC–VA–MD–WV	5,358,130
		Bethesda-Gaithersburg–Frederick	MD	1,176,401
		Washington–Arlington–Alexandria	DC–MD–VA–WV	4,181,729
10	Boston–Cambridge–Quincy		MA–NH	4,522,858
		Boston–Quincy	MA	1,884,659
		Cambridge–Newton–Framingham		1,482,478
		Peabody		736,457
		Rockingham County–Strafford County	NH	419,264
11	Detroit–Warren–Livonia		MI	4,425,110
		Detroit–Livonia–Dearborn		1,949,929
		Warren–Troy–Farmington Hills		2,475,181
12	Phoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale		AZ	4,281,899
13	San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont		CA	4,274,531
		Oakland–Fremont–Hayward		2,504,071
		San Francisco–San Mateo–Redwood City		1,770,460
14	Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario		CA	4,115,871
15	Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue		WA	3,344,813
		Seattle–Bellevue–Everett		2,559,174
		Tacoma		785,639
16	Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington		MN–WI	3,229,878
17	San Diego–Carlsbad–San Marcos[4]		CA	3,001,072
18	St. Louis		MO–IL	2,816,710
19	Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater		FL	2,733,761
20	Baltimore–Towson		MD	2,667,117
21	Denver–Aurora		CO	2,506,626
22	Pittsburgh		PA	2,351,192
23	Portland–Vancouver–Beaverton		OR–WA	2,207,462
24	Cincinnati–Middletown		OH-KY-IN	2,155,137
25	Sacramento		CA	2,109,832

For all U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas, see the Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

For a list including combined metropolitan areas, see the Table of United States primary census statistical areas.

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• Geography
  • Human geography
    • Demography
• List of metropolitan areas by population
• List of regions of the United States
• 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
• United States
  • United States Census Bureau
    • Combined Statistical Area
    • Core Based Statistical Area
    • Demographics of the United States
    • Micropolitan Statistical Area
    • Table of United States Combined Statistical Areas (CSA)
    • Table of United States Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSA)
    • Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA)
    • Table of United States Micropolitan Statistical Areas (μSA)
    • Table of United States primary census statistical areas (PCSA)
• World largest cities

[edit] 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
• A free tool mapping MSA to ZIP and vice versa