Metropolitan statistical area

Epic card · No. 2610

In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region based on a county or a group of counties with at least one urbanized area with a population of at least 50,000 and adjacent counties with economic ties to the central area. Such regions are not legally incorporated as a city or town would be and are not legal administrative divisions like counties or separate entities such as states. As a result, sometimes the precise definition of a given metropolitan area will vary between sources. The statistical criteria for a standard metropolitan area were defined in 1949 and later redefined as those for a metropolitan statistical area in 1983. Due to suburbanization, the typical metropolitan area is polycentric rather than being centered around a large historic core city such as New York City or Chicago. Some metropolitan areas include more than one large historic core city; examples include the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News (Hampton...

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