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Table 1 Pre- and post-2005 geographic classification systems

From: The effects of living wage laws on low-wage workers and low-income families: What do we know now?

 

1996-2005

2005-2009

Classification:

MSA, PMSA, CMSA

CBSA – Metropolitan Area, Micropolitan Area

Units:

Counties (except in New England, which uses cities and towns) Based around one or more central cities

Counties (except in New England, which uses cities and towns)

Population requirements:

MSAs must have 50,000 or more in the central city, or a defined urbanized area of at least 50,000, provided that the component county/counties of the MSA have a total population of at least 100,000

Metropolitan areas must have 50,000 or more in the core urban area

Micropolitan areas must have 10,000-50,000 in the core urban area

PMSAs must have at least one county with 100,000 population, 60% urban, 35% residents of county work outside the county, less than 2,500 population of the largest central city of the level A MSA

Under certain conditions, one or more CBSAs may be grouped together to form a larger statistical entity known as a combined statistical area (CSA)

Two or more PMSAs combine to form a CMSA

Inclusion rule:

Counties that include a central city of the MSA, or at least 50 percent of the population of such a city, provided the city is located in a qualified urbanized area; counties in which at least 50 percent of the population lives in the qualified urbanized area(s); outlying counties are also included if certain conditions are met (population density, 40-50% of workers commute to the central city, etc.)

Core urban county, and adjacent counties that have a high degree of social and economic integration (as measured by commuting to work) with the urban core

  1. Notes: For additional details, see http://www.census.gov/population/www/metroareas/mastand.html and http://www.census.gov/population/www/metroareas/metroarea.html (viewed on October 5, 2010).