Federal Statistical Area Designations Based on Census 2000

On June 6, 2003, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced through Bulletin No. 03-04 an initial update to statistical area definitions based on new standards and the results of Census 2000. This was superseded on February 18, 2004, by the issuance of a new bulletin—No. 04-03—that reflected, among other things, a re-application of the new standards using population estimates for 2001 and 2002. On February 22, 2005, OMB issued Bulletin No. 05-02, which updated statistical area lists using population estimates for 2003. On December 5, 2005, OMB issued Bulletin No. 06-01, which updated statistical area lists using population estimates for 2004.

OMB Bulletin No. 06-01 was corrected twice in 2006 for omissions involving Combined Statistical Areas and their components. On December 18, 2006, OMB Bulletin No. 07-01 was issued, updating and superseding OMB Bulletin No. 06-01. Both the corrections to OMB Bulletin No. 06-01 and the updates set forth in OMB Bulletin No. 07-01 were implemented into the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program on March 21, 2007.

On November 20, 2007, OMB Bulletin No. 08-01 was issued, updating and superseding OMB Bulletin No. 07-01. The updates set forth in OMB Bulletin No. 08-01 were implemented into the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program on March 19, 2008. Other Bureau of Labor Statistics programs implement revisions to statistical area definitions on a program-by-program basis.

Relative to the 1990s, the lists of OMB Bulletin No. 03-04 included 49 new Metropolitan Statistical Areas, along with revised definitions of existing Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and also newly identified Micropolitan Statistical Areas. Additionally, OMB designated and defined two new sets of statistical areas—Combined Statistical Areas and Metropolitan Divisions in the most populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas. New England City and Town Areas (NECTAs) also were defined as an alternative to the county-based metropolitan and micropolitan areas in the 6 New England states.

The Office of Management and Budget is responsible for maintaining and updating statistical area classifications, a task it has done every decade since the 1950 Census. OMB establishes and maintains the definitions of these areas solely for statistical purposes. The classification is intended to provide nationally consistent definitions for collecting, tabulating, and publishing federal statistics for a set of geographic areas.

New definitions:

• OMB Bulletin No. 03-04
• OMB Bulletin No. 04-03
• OMB Bulletin No. 05-02
• OMB Bulletin No. 06-01 (as corrected May 26, 2006) (PDF 976K)
• Correction to OMB Bulletin No. 06-01, Update of Statistical Area Definitions and Guidance on Their Uses (April 25, 2006) (PDF 28K)
• Correction to OMB Bulletin No. 06-01, Update of Statistical Area Definitions and Guidance on Their Uses (May 26, 2006) (PDF 33K)
• OMB Bulletin No. 07-01 (PDF 990K)
• OMB Bulletin No. 08-01 (PDF 976K)

Comparison of Geographic Coverage Between the 2000 and 1990 Definitions:

• United States:  Maps of 2000 Metropolitan and Micropolitan Areas vs. 1990 Metropolitan Areas (HTML) (PDF 719K)
• New England:  Maps of 2000 Metropolitan and Micropolitan NECTAs vs. 1990 Metropolitan Areas (HTML) (PDF 126K)
• States:  Maps of 1990 Metropolitan Areas (PDF 2.4MB)
• States:  Maps of 2000 Metropolitan and Micropolitan Areas (PDF 2.3MB)

Census Bureau Links to Information About Metropolitan Areas:

• Background 
• Current Definitions and Codes
• Historical Metropolitan Area Definitions
• Federal Register Notice—Final Standards (PDF 295K)
• Census 2000 Urban and Rural Classification

BLS Links to Data on Metropolitan Areas:

• Metropolitan Area Implementation Plans for the Fed-State Programs
• Changes to State and Local Area Labor Force Estimates in 2005
• BLS Programs by Geography
• BLS Publications of Metropolitan Area Data
  • Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment
  • Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
  • Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment
  • Wages from the National Compensation Survey:  Published Areas
  • Labor Market Areas, 2008 (PDF 759K)

Last Modified Date: March 19, 2008