Metropolitan area

A region centered on a city that includes its urban core, suburbs, and nearby communities linked to it economically and socially.

Central city: The principal city at the core of a larger urban region. It anchors the population, jobs, and services around which the metropolitan area is organized.
Labor market: The system through which employers seek workers and people offer their labor. A shared labor market ties outlying communities to employment across the region.
Metropolitan statistical area: A U.S. statistical region centered on an urban core and defined by county-level commuting and integration criteria. It is a standardized U.S. version of a metropolitan area, with formal statistical boundaries.
Metropolitan planning organization: A U.S. regional body that coordinates transportation planning for an urbanized area. It plans transportation across local jurisdictions that share a metropolitan travel network.
Suburb: A settlement or residential area outside a city’s central core, often connected to it by commuting and services. Suburbs are a major part of the region beyond its urban core.
Transportation network: Connected routes and services that move people and goods between places. Roads, rail, and transit make regional commuting and exchange possible.
Combined statistical area: A U.S. statistical grouping of adjacent metropolitan or micropolitan areas with substantial commuting ties. It covers broader connections between neighboring urban regions than a single metropolitan statistical area.
Census: A systematic count and description of a population, often conducted by a government. Population statistics use defined metropolitan boundaries to compare urban regions.
Commuting: Regular travel between a person’s home and workplace or school. Commuting connects residential communities to jobs concentrated in the central city and elsewhere.
Agglomeration economies: Productivity benefits that arise when firms and workers locate near one another. These benefits help concentrate jobs and services in metropolitan centers.

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