|
The geographic areas of nonmetro America exhibit a great deal of
variation in economic and social characteristics. In addition to agricultural
areas, nonmetro America includes sparsely populated mountainous regions,
millions of acres of heavily forested areas, small towns, light manufacturing
areas, tiny coastal hamlets, and the suburban fringes of growing metro
areas. What we know about this heterogeneity is based largely on data
for counties. This means that our understanding of nonmetro diversity
comes from data on arbitrary political units.
Commuting zones (CZ's) and labor
market areas (LMA's) were developed because county boundaries
are not adequate confines for an area's economy. A local economy and
its labor market are bounded not by the nearest county line, but by
interrelationships between buyers and sellers of labor. If we are
to understand the diversity of nonmetro America we need a geographic
standard capturing variations in local economic and labor force activities.
The central objective of CZ's and LMA's was to develop such a geographic
unit that better captures the economic and social diversity of nonmetro
areas.
For 1990, 741 commuting zones were delineated for all U.S. counties
and county equivalents. These commuting zones were developed without
regard to a minimum population threshold and are intended to be a
spatial measure of the local labor market. Where necessary, the commuting
zones were aggregated into 394 labor market areas that met the Bureau
of the Census's criterion of a 100,000 population minimum. This was
done to acquire a special 1990 Census Public Use Microdata Sample
(PUMS-L) that identifies labor market areas in which individuals work.
The commuting zones and labor market areas were also classified by
the population of the largest city within each of them.
Nonmetro Commuting Zones and Labor Market Areas Classified by Size
- Small Town/Rural: Population of largest place in the commuting
zone/labor market area was less than 5,000 in 1990.
- Small Urban Center: Population of largest place ranged from 5,000
to less than 20,000 in 1990.
- Large Urban Center: Population of largest place was at least 20,000
in 1990.
Metro Commuting Zones and Labor Market Areas
- Small Metro Center: Population of the largest MSA in the commuting
zone/labor market area was less than 250,000 in 1990.
- Medium Metro Center: Population of largest MSA was at least 250,000
but less than 1,000,000 in 1990.
- Major Metro Center: Population of largest MSA was 1,000,000 or
greater in 1990, or commuting zone/labor market area is part of
a Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Download the 1980 and 1990 commuting zone
and labor market areas master file in Excel format (634kb).
Download a report describing the 1990 Commuting
Zones and Labor Market Areas in Adobe Acrobat format (1,996kb).
Download a report describing the 1980 Labor
Market Areas in Adobe Acrobat format (7,445kb).
Download 1990 labor market area data from
the PUMS-L Data Delivery System.
|
