Metropolitan statistical area
In the United States, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has produced a formal definition of metropolitan areas, which are organized around county boundaries (except in New England, where cities and towns are more significant than counties as geographical and political units.) These are referred to as "Metropolitan Statistical Areas" (MSAs). If an MSA is large enough and can be subdivided into meaningful sub-metropolitan areas, then the MSA is considered a "Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area" (CMSA), with each subdivision called a "Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area" (PMSA). The largest MSAs in the United States are all CMSAs.
In 2003, further adjustments were made to the definition of metro areas, information about it is available on the core based statistical area entry.
The following is a list of the top metropolitan areas in the United States, according to the 2000 census:
| Metropolitan Area | States | Type | Population | Other names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New York--Northern New Jersey--Long Island--Bridgeport, New Haven | NY--NJ--CT--PA | CMSA | 21,199,865 | Tri-state Area, New York area, Greater New York |
| CA | CMSA | 16,373,645 | The Southland, Southern California (The latter also refers to the entire southern portion of the state) | |
| IL--IN--WI | CMSA | 9,157,540 | Chicagoland, Greater Chicago, Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana (the latter refers to the eastern part extended until South Bend, Indiana) | |
| DC--MD--VA--WV | CMSA | 7,608,070 | Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area | |
| CA | CMSA | 7,039,362 | The Bay Area | |
| PA--NJ--DE--MD | CMSA | 6,188,463 | The Delaware Valley | |
| Boston--Worcester--Lawrence | MA--NH--ME--CT | CMSA | 5,819,100 | Greater Boston |
| Detroit--Ann Arbor--Flint | MI | CMSA | 5,456,428 | Metro Detroit |
| Dallas--Fort Worth--Arlington | TX | CMSA | 5,221,801 | The Metroplex |
| Houston--Galveston--Brazoria--Baytown--Sugar Land | TX | CMSA | 4,669,571 | Houston Metropolitan Area |
| Atlanta | GA | MSA | 4,112,198 | Atlanta Metropolitan Area |
| Miami--Ft. Lauderdale | FL | CMSA | 3,876,380 | |
| Seattle--Tacoma--Bremerton | WA | CMSA | 3,554,760 | Greater Puget Sound |
| Phoenix--Mesa | AZ | MSA | 3,251,876 | The Valley of the Sun |
| Minneapolis--St. Paul | MN, WI | MSA | 2,968,806 | The Twin Cities |
| Cincinnati--Hamilton | OH, KY, IN | CMSA | Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky |
See also Demographics of the United States, List of metropolitan areas by population.