September 08, 2006

New Metro/Micro Page Easier to Navigate

Finding data and definitions for metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas has just gotten much easier. The Census Bureau has redesigned the web site so that users can easily choose from helpful dropdown menus to find current and past definitions of these areas along with their component cities and counties. The redesign comes at the same time as the release of population totals for the 2005 metro and micro areas. Definitions are as of December 2005 and are the same definitions used in the recent release of data from the 2005 American Community Survey.

Incidentally, the metro area with the largest numerical increase in the first half of this decade is Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta; tops in numerical increase between 2004 and 2005 is Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale. The 2005 data include several useful ranking tables for metro and micro areas.

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