United States metropolitan area

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In the United States, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has produced a formal definition of metropolitan areas. These are referred to as "Metropolitan Statistical Areas" (MSAs) and "Combined Statistical Areas." An earlier version of the MSA was the "Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area" (SMSA). In most of the country, MSAs are composed of counties; in New England, of towns and cities.[1]

MSAs are used for official purposes but they are not the only estimates of metro area populations available. The appropriate figures for some metro areas are much debated, and in some cases reputable sources provide figures which differ by millions. The most contentious examples include Greater Los Angeles and the Greater Cleveland metro. The official definitions used for the last U.S. Census differed from those for previous censuses, making comparisons difficult even between official figures at different dates (comparing 2000 with 1990, Baltimore was separated from Washington, D.C., but Fort Lauderdale was combined with Miami, which made a considerable difference to the rankings of both metros). Care should also be taken when comparing MSA figures with population figures for cities or metro areas outside the U.S., which may be based on substantially different boundary systems and definitions of terms.

As of November 2003, there is now an additional classification, that of a “Metropolitan Division.” The term metropolitan division is used to refer to a county or group of counties within a metropolitan statistical area that has a population core of at least 2.5 million. While a metropolitan division is a subdivision of a larger metropolitan statistical area, it often functions as a distinct social, economic, and cultural area within the larger region.

The following is a list of the 25 most populated metropolitan statistical areas and metropolitan divisions in the United States, according to the July 1, 2004 U.S. Census Bureau estimates:

Rank	Metropolitan Area	Metropolitan Division	State(s)	Population
1	New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island		NY–NJ–PA	18,709,802
		Edison	NJ	2,291,394
		Nassau–Suffolk	NY	2,815,129
		Newark–Union	NJ–PA	2,152,895
		New York–Wayne–White Plains	NY–NJ	11,450,384
2	Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana		CA	12,925,330
		Los Angeles–Long Beach–Glendale	CA	9,937,739
		Santa Ana–Anaheim–Irvine	CA	2,987,591
3	Chicago–Naperville–Joliet		IL–IN–WI	9,391,515
		Chicago–Naperville–Joliet	IL	7,848,335
		Gary	IN	691,850
		Lake County–Kenosha County	IL–WI	851,330
4	Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington		PA–NJ–DE–MD	5,800,614
		Camden	NJ	1,237,773
		Philadelphia	PA	3,882,573
		Wilmington	DE–NJ–MD	680,268
5	Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington		TX	5,700,256
		Dallas–Plano–Irving	TX	3,812,875
		Fort Worth–Arlington	TX	1,887,381
6	Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Miami Beach		FL	5,361,723
		Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach–Deerfield Beach	FL	1,754,893
		Miami–Miami Beach–Kendall	FL	2,363,600
		West Palm Beach–Boca Raton–Boynton Beach	FL	1,243,230
7	Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown		TX	5,180,443
8	Washington–Arlington–Alexandria		VA–MD--WV	5,139,549
		Bethesda–Frederick–Gaithersburg	MD	1,139,343
		Washington–Arlington–Alexandria	MD–VA	4,000,206
9	Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Marietta		GA	4,708,297
10	Detroit–Warren–Livonia		MI	4,493,165
		Detroit–Livonia–Dearborn	MI	2,016,202
		Warren–Farmington Hills–Troy	MI	2,476,963
11	Boston–Cambridge–Quincy		MA–NH	4,424,649
		Boston–Quincy	MA	1,810,294
		Cambridge–Newton–Framingham	MA	1,464,628
		Essex County	MA	738,894
		Rockingham County–Stratford County	NH	410,793
12	San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont		CA	4,153,870
		Oakland–Fremont–Hayward	CA	2,464,379
		San Francisco–San Mateo–Redwood City	CA	1,689,491
13	Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario		CA	3,793,081
14	Phoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale		AZ	3,715,360
15	Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue		WA	3,166,828
		Seattle–Bellevue–Everett	WA	2,421,417
		Tacoma	WA	745,411
16	Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington		MN	3,116,206
17	San Diego–Carlsbad–San Marcos		CA	2,931,714
18	St. Louis		MO–IL	2,764,054
19	Baltimore–Towson		MD	2,639,213
20	Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater		FL	2,587,967
21	Pittsburgh		PA–WV	2,401,575
22	Denver–Aurora		CO	2,330,146
23	Cleveland–Elyria–Mentor		OH	2,137,073
24	Portland–Vancouver–Beaverton		OR–WA	2,064,336
25	Cincinnati-Middletown		OH	2,058,221