TRACKING METROPOLITAN AMERICA INTO THE 21ST CENTURY: A FIELD GUIDE TO THE NEW METROPOLITAN AND MICROPOLITAN DEFINITIONS

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently overhauled their classification system of land settlement. The new system changes the types, names, and boundaries for metropolitan areas, and also creates new areas, called micropolitan areas. This paper compares the new classification system with the old one. Among its findings are: (1) Metropolitan Statistical Areas are now the standard analysis tool when analyzing across metropolitan geographical areas. (2) Micropolitan areas, together with metropolitan areas make it possible for OMB's statistical areas to include 93% of the U.S. population and 46% of its land. (3) In the new system, 81% of the country's 102 largest metropolitan areas have altered their population and territory. (4) The older term central cities has been replaced by the term Both micropolitan and metropolitan areas contain principal cities. (5) The newer definitions change the economic and social attributes of many metropolitan areas, and they also change their national rankings on these attributes. For example, New York is now the most populated metropolitan area, replacing Los Angeles; and San Francisco has dropped from 4th place to 14th place in metropolitan ranking of college degree achievement.