Statistics about Metropolitan Areas

Statistics about people, households, personal income, labor force, housing:

Statistics about businesses:

Other:

General issues:

The metropolitan areas for which data are provided in the links above are those defined at http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/metro-city/99mfips.txt. As of June 6, 2003, new metropolitan areas were defined (and existing areas were redefined) based on the results of Census 2000, and the new concept of micropolitan statistical areas was added. For new definitions, see http://censtats.census.gov/cgi-bin/msanaic/msasel.pl. Links will be added to this site when data are available for areas according to the new definitions.

Boundaries for many metro areas were redefined in 1993 based on the results of the 1990 Census. Thus, the metro areas shown in American FactFinder for 1990 may not be the same as those shown for more recent data. Metro areas will be redefined again in 2003 based on the results of Census 2000.

In most states, metropolitan areas are defined in terms of whole counties, but in the six New England states, metro areas were defined in terms of cities and towns prior to 2003. Some statistical programs do not include city and town data, so publish data for New England County Metropolitan Areas (NECMAs)--where the metro area is approximated in terms of whole counties--instead of for New England MSAs. Affected programs are denoted with [necma] above.

Step-by-step example retrieving Census 2000 metro area data from American FactFinder.

  1. At www.census.gov, select "American FactFinder" in the left column.
  2. In the righthand column, under the "Data Sets" heading, select one of the following
  3. On the Data Sets page,
    1. Click the radio button next to "Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data", if it is not already selected.
    2. At the right, select "Quick Tables"
  4. On the Select Geography page,
    1. In the select the type of area box, pick "Metropolitan Statistical Area/Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area"
    2. Select the metro area and click "Add".
    3. Click on "Next" (If you don't see the "Next" button, scroll right until you do.)
  5. On the Select Tables page
    1. If you are using SF1, select "DP-1 Profile of General Delographic Characteristics" or other table, and click "Add"
    2. If you are using SF3, select one or more of the following, and click "Add"
      • DP-2. Profile of Selected Social Characteristics
      • DP-3. Profile of Selected Economic Characteristics
      • DP-4. Profile of Selected Housing Characteristics
    3. Click "Show Table"

Notes: