The Metropolitan Area Profile (Metro Profile), a component of the Situation & Outlook, is a core ProximityOne information resource
providing insights into characteristics and trends of current vintage metropolitan areas. Metro Profile is available for all metropolitan areas.
The Metro Profile also provides a gateway to drill-down demographic, economic and business data
for smaller geographic areas within the metro.
Metropolitan areas
include approximately 94 percent of the U.S. population -- 85 percent in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs)
and 9 percent in micropolitan statistical areas (MISAs). Of 3,143 counties in the United States, 1,167 are
in the 381 MSAs in the U.S. and 641 counties are in the 536 MISAs (1,335 counties are in non-metro areas).
See
additional information about metros below.
Metropolitan Areas are designated by OMB ("Standards for Delineating Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas") based
mainly on Census Bureau-sourced data.
Metropolitan areas are defined as Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) and Micropolitan Statistical Areas (MISA).
MSAs and MISAs are also referred to a Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs).
Contiguous CBSAs are defined as Combined Statistical Areas (CSA).
By definition, metropolitan areas are comprised of one or more contiguous counties. Metropolitan areas are not
single
cities and typically include many cities.
Metropolitan areas are comprised of
urban
and rural areas and often have large expanses of rural territory.
A business and demographic-economic synergy exists within each metro; metros often interact with adjacent metros.
The demographic-economic make-up of metros vary widely and change often.
See
more about metros.
Principal Cities. The largest city in each metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area is designated a "principal city."
Principal cities are designated by OMB based on Census-sourced data.
Additional cities qualify as principal cities if specified requirements are met concerning population size and employment.
The title of each metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area consists of the names of up to three of its principal cities
and the name of each state into which the metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area extends.
Titles of metropolitan divisions also typically are based on principal city names but in certain cases consist of county names.
One or more principal cities are designated within each Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Micropolitan Statistical Area (MISA).
The term "principal city" is defined in the OMB "Standards for Delineating Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas."
A principal city is an OMB designation applied to one or more incorporated places and/or census designated places (CDPs).
The OMB standards designate a Principal City (or Cities) of a Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA) as determined by:
a) The largest incorporated place with a 2010 Census population of at least 10,000 in the CBSA or,
if no incorporated place of at least 10,000 population is present in the CBSA,
the largest incorporated place or census designated place in the CBSA; and
b) Additional places with 2010 Census population of at least 250,000 or in which 100,000 or more persons work; and
c) Additional places with 2010 Census population of 50,000-250,000,
and number of workers working in the place meets or exceeds the number of workers living in the place; and
d) Additional places with 2010 Census population of 10,000-50,000, and at least one-third the population size of the largest place,
and in which the number of workers working in the place meets or exceeds the number of workers living in the place.