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Here's a "strange but true" fact: Alabama-- a state known for it's rural Southern lifestyle-- actually contains as many Metropolitan Statistical Areas (or portions of MSA's) as New York or Illinois. Who knew???
There are currently 366 recognized MSA's in the fifty United States. Here are the total number of MSA's, or portions of MSA's, found in each state:
California- 27
Texas- 25
Florida- 19
Indiana, North Carolina, and Ohio- 16
Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin- 15
Alabama, Illinois, New York, Washington- 12
Virginia- 11
South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia- 10
Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri- 9
Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota- 8
Colorado, New Jersey- 7
Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon- 6
Mississippi, Utah- 5
Connecticut, New Mexico, Oklahoma- 4
Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota- 3
Alaska, Delaware, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wyoming- 2
Hawaii, Rhode Island, Vermont- 1 (DC obviously has 1 also.)
Any other surprises from this list?
I'm not suprised at all.
Southern states like Alabama may have a lot of MSAs, but they are mostly on the small side. Of around 100,000 people or so. Where they are small enough, where one can easily live in a rural area within commutable distance of the small city.
Illinois and New York, have one HUGE MSA each, but both the rest of Illinois and New York are comparitvely rural.
Southern states like Alabama may have a lot of MSAs, but they are mostly on the small side. Of around 100,000 people or so. Where they are small enough, where one can easily live in a rural area within commutable distance of the small city.
Illinois and New York, have one HUGE MSA each, but both the rest of Illinois and New York are comparitvely rural.
No Tex, Buffalo/Niagara, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany/Schenectady Troy are not rural at all, and none are "commuting distance" to any other larger city.
The number of counties in the state also effect the number MSA's. Obviously the bigger and lower number of counties equal fewer MSA's.
EXACTLY! Of course the largest states in land area would tend to have more MSAs. The little states of RI and NJ are the most urban in the country, but they also have some of the fewest MSAs.
No Tex, Buffalo/Niagara, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany/Schenectady Troy are not rural at all, and none are "commuting distance" to any other larger city.
Obviously those are cities, what I was saying is that compared to the states associated with hyper-urban New York City, much of the state is more rural than people would expect, so it would be no suprise that the # of MSAs is an average number.
No Tex, Buffalo/Niagara, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany/Schenectady Troy are not rural at all, and none are "commuting distance" to any other larger city.
I don't think he was stating those areas were rural. But that outside of the major metro areas in IL and NY, the state is largely rural.
Lifelong Wisconsin resident, total geography nerd, and even I'm a little surprised that Wisconsin has 15... although two of them are basically just Minnesota MSAs spilling across the border.
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