Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines metropolitan areas according to published standards that are applied to Census Bureau data. The collective term "metropolitan area" includes metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), consolidated metropolitan statistical areas (CMSAs), and primary metropolitan statistical areas (PMSAs). An MSA is a county or group of contiguous counties that contains at least one city with a population of 50,000 or more or a Census Bureau-defined urbanized area of at least 50,000 with a metropolitan population of at least 100,000. In addition to the county or counties that contain all or part of the main city or urbanized area, an MSA may contain other counties that are metropolitan in character and are economically and socially integrated with the main city. If an MSA has a population of 1 million or more and meets requirements specified in the standards, it is termed a CMSA, consisting of two or more major components, each of which is recognized as a PMSA. In New England, cities and towns, rather than counties, are used to define MSAs. Counties that are not within an MSA are considered to be nonmetropolitan. For National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data before 1995, metropolitan population is based on MSAs as defined by OMB in 1983 using the 1980 Census. Starting with the 1995 NHIS, metropolitan population is based on MSAs as defined by OMB in 1993 using the 1990 Census. SOURCE: Health, United States Related
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This page last reviewed
June 18, 2004
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