The

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fe ...

defines and delineates the nation's metropolitan areas for statistical purposes, using a set of standard statistical area definitions. the U.S.

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

(OMB) defined and delineated 392

metropolitan statistical area 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 area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

s (MSAs) and 547 micropolitan statistical areas (μSAs) in the United States and Puerto Rico. Many of these 939 MSAs and μSAs are, in turn, components of larger

combined statistical area 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 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

s (CSAs) consisting of adjacent MSAs and μSAs that are linked by

commuting Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regul ...

ties; 551 metropolitan and micropolitan areas are components of the 175 defined CSAs. A collective term for MSAs, μSAs, and CSAs is primary statistical areas (PSAs), though that term is not used by OMB. Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas are defined as consisting of one or more adjacent

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

county equivalents In the United States, a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 states, wh ...

with at least one urban core area meeting relevant population thresholds, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and

economic integration Economic integration is the unification of economic policies between different states, through the partial or full abolition of tariff and non-tariff restrictions on trade. The trade-stimulation effects intended by means of economic integrati ...

with the core, as measured by commuting ties. A metropolitan statistical area has at least one urban core with a population of at least 50,000. In a micropolitan statistical area, the largest urban core has a population of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000.

Maps

Types and distribution

The sortable table below shows the number of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas in each of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

s, the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. For each jurisdiction, it lists: #Total number of delineated areas wholly or partially in the named jurisdiction #The number of CSAs wholly or partially in the jurisdiction #The number of core-based statistical areas (i.e., MSAs and µSAs) wholly or partially in the jurisdiction #The number of MSAs wholly or partially in the jurisdiction #The number of µSAs wholly or partially in the jurisdiction #The number of

and

county-equivalent In the United States, a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 states, wh ...

s in the jurisdiction Please note: Because many metropolitan and micropolitan areas overlap jurisdictional boundaries, columns are not additive.

List of primary statistical areas

The following sortable

table Table may refer to: * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (landform), a flat area of land * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns * Table (database), how the table data ...

lists the 569 primary statistical areas (PSAs) of the United States with the following information: #The PSA rank by population as of July 1, 2020 #The PSA name as designated by the

United States Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

#The PSA population as of July 1, 2020, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau #The PSA population as of April 1, 2010, as enumerated by the

2010 United States census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

#The percent PSA population change from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2020 #If the PSA is a

, the constituent core-based statistical areas

Puerto Rico

The following sortable

lists the five primary statistical areas (PSAs) of Puerto Rico with the following information: #The PSA rank by population as of July 1, 2020, as estimated by the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

#The PSA name as designated by the

#The PSA population as of July 1, 2020, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau #The PSA population as of April 1, 2010, as enumerated by the

#The percent PSA population change from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2020 #If the PSA is a

, the constituent core-based statistical areas

References

External links