Rural Research Notes

OMB Reclassification Reduces Outside Metropolitan Area Population By 1.5% - Cover Image

OMB Reclassification Reduces Outside Metropolitan Area Population By 1.5%

Rural Policy Brief: OMB Reclassification Reduces Outside Metropolitan Area Population By 1.5%

 

rpb omb outside metro thb

The Office and Management and Budget (OMB) recently released updated Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area designations (OMB Bulletin – No. 13-01) for 2013. The 2013 standards update the 2003 classifications for defining Metropolitan Areas. As a result of the updated designations, 1,976 counties are now located outside of Metropolitan Areas. Approximately 46.3 million people reside Outside of Metropolitan Areas comprising 15 percent of the U.S. population. While less than one-fifth of the nation’s population is located outside of a Metropolitan Area, they reside across 73 percent of nation’s landmass.

Under the new designations, 113 counties previously considered outside of Metropolitan Areas (based on 2003 criteria) have been reclassified as Metropolitan due to population growth or increased commuting. In contrast, 36 former Metropolitan counties were reclassified to Outside Metropolitan status. These classification changes result in a net decline of 4.8 million persons, or 1.5 percent, of outside Metropolitan Area population (from the 2003 classification). This trend continues a pattern of growth in Metropolitan Areas over the past half-century. In 1940, less than half of the U.S. population lived in a Metropolitan Area. In 2013, 85 percent of Americans live in Metropolitan Areas designated by OMB.