In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the region. Such regions are not legally incorporated as a city or town would be and are not legal administrative divisions like counties or separate entities such as states. As a result, sometimes the precise definition of a given metropolitan area will vary between sources. The statistical criteria for a standard metropolitan area were defined in 1949 and redefined as a metropolitan statistical area in 1983.
The Kingsport–Bristol–Bristol metropolitan area is a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, United States, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It was formed in December 2003 by the merger of the Bristol, VA MSA and Kingsport–Bristol, TN–VA MSA.
Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (μSA) across the 50 U.S. states and the territory of Puerto Rico that can demonstrate economic or social linkage. CSAs were first designated in 2003. OMB defines a CSA by various combinations of adjacent metropolitan and micropolitan areas with economic ties measured by commuting patterns. CSAs retain their own designations as metropolitan or micropolitan statistical areas in their respective larger combined statistical areas.
Pennsylvania has 14 U.S. Census Bureau-designated metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and four combined statistical areas (CSAs). As of 2020, Philadelphia, the seventh-largest United States metropolitan area, is the state's largest metropolitan area followed by Pittsburgh and Allentown.
The Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in West Virginia, anchored by the city of Charleston. It is the largest metropolitan area entirely within the state of West Virginia. The Huntington Metro Area adds to the Charleston–Huntington, WV-OH-KY CSA and spans three states, while the core county of the Charleston area, Kanawha County, is more populous than the West Virginia portion of the Huntington area.
The Joplin, Missouri-Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of Jasper, Newton, and Cherokee counties in southwest Missouri and southeast Kansas anchored by the city of Joplin. The estimated 2023 population of the Joplin, MO-KS (MSA) is 204,787. As of March 2023, The U.S. Census Bureau MSA delineation report added Cherokee County, Kansas to the Joplin, MO MSA making it the Joplin, MO-KS MSA.
The Salisbury, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area is a United States Census Bureau–designated metropolitan area centered in and around Salisbury, Maryland, including two counties in Maryland: Somerset and Wicomico. Until 2023, the Salisbury MSA also included Worcester County.
The Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of six counties in Central Illinois, anchored by the city of Peoria. As of the 2020 census, the area had a population of 402,391. The City of Peoria, according to the 2020 US Census Bureau, has 113,150 people.
The Rockford Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of four counties in north-central Illinois, anchored by the city of Rockford. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 349,431. The Rockford MSA abuts the southern portions of the Janesville-Beloit MSA and the Chicago MSA. It forms the main part of the larger Rockford–Freeport–Rochelle Combined Statistical Area.
The Manhattan–Junction City Combined Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in northeastern Kansas, anchored by the city of Manhattan. It was upgraded from a Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA) to a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) by the Office of Management and Budget on November 20, 2008. It was changed from a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) to a Combined Statistical Area (CSA) by the Office of Management and Budget on February 28, 2013.
The city of Portland, Maine, is the hub city of a metropolitan area in southern Maine. The region is commonly known as Greater Portland or the Portland metropolitan area. For statistical purposes, the U.S. federal government defines three different representations of the Portland metropolitan area. The Portland–South Portland, Maine, metropolitan statistical area is a region consisting of three counties in Maine, anchored by the city of Portland and the smaller city of South Portland. As of the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 551,740. A larger combined statistical area (CSA), the Portland–Lewiston–South Portland combined statistical area, is defined as the combination of this metropolitan statistical area (MSA) with the adjacent Lewiston–Auburn MSA. The CSA comprises four counties in southern Maine. The Portland–South Portland metropolitan New England city and town area is defined on the basis of cities and towns rather than entire counties. It consists of most of Cumberland and York counties plus the town of Durham in Androscoggin County. The Greater Portland area has emerged as an important center for the creative economy, which is also bringing gentrification.
The Montgomery, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan area in central Alabama. As of 2020, the MSA had a population of 386,047, ranking it 142nd among United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas. That number is up +3.07% from the 2010 census number of 374,536.
The Cape Girardeau–Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in southeastern Missouri and one in southern Illinois with its core in both states. Its largest cities are the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson. It was upgraded from a Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA) to a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) by the Office of Management and Budget on November 20, 2008.
The Paducah, KY–IL Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of five counties – three in the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky, a fourth Kentucky county bordering the Purchase, and one in Southern Illinois – anchored by the city of Paducah, Kentucky. The Paducah KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area was upgraded to Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) status on July 21, 2023, by the Office of Management and Budget.. Carlisle County, Kentucky, was added to the area following the 2020 Census of the Population. The total MSA population from the 2020 United States Census was 103,486.
The Madison, Wisconsin, metropolitan area, also known as Greater Madison, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Madison, Wisconsin. Madison is the state capital of Wisconsin and is Wisconsin's second largest city, and the metropolitan area is also the state's second largest which the Madison MSA borders to its east.
The Macon metropolitan area is a metropolitan statistical area consisting of five counties in Central Georgia, anchored by the principal city of Macon. At the 2010 U.S. census, the five-county area had a population of 232,293. A July 2017 estimate placed the population at 228,914. In 2022, its estimated population was 235,805.
The Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in Indiana, anchored by the cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette. As of the July 1, 2021, the MSA had an estimated population of 224,709. Metro area population in 2021 is 237,130 and was 235,066 in 2020, a growth of 16% over 2010. In 2010, the Lafayette, Indiana, metro area population was 210,297.
The Kokomo Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of Howard County in Indiana. Howard County had a population estimate of 83,831 in 2023. Kokomo is also the principal city of the area known as North Central Indiana, the area around Kokomo with economic ties. The six county area including Cass, Clinton, Fulton, Howard, Miami, and Tipton counties had population of 228,331 people in 2010.
Wichita is the largest city in the US state of Kansas and the principal city of the Wichita Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population of the city was 382,368.
