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I've been searching for information about the size (in area) of all the US Metropolitan Statistical Areas. I was able to find some population tables on the 2000 Census site.
Top 100 Population Per Square Mile, 2000
1 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA 2,724.3
2 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 2,549.5
3 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 1,667.4
4 Trenton-Ewing, NJ 1,552.5
5 Honolulu, HI 1,460.8
6 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT 1,410.3
7 New Haven-Milford, CT 1,360.6
8 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI 1,261.6
9 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 1,252.2
10 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 1,228.4
11 Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI 1,137.6
12 Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH 1,071.7
13 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 1,028.0
14 Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA 988.8
15 Baltimore-Towson, MD 978.5 16 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 977.0
17 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 938.1
18 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 852.3
19 Akron, OH 767.8
20 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT 758.3
21 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 746.6
22 Flint, MI 681.9
23 El Paso, TX 670.8
24 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 670.0
25 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 647.8
26 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC 599.9
27 Bremerton-Silverdale, WA 585.8
28 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 574.2
29 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA 574.1
30 Racine, WI 566.9
31 Barnstable Town, MA 561.9
32 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL 548.6
33 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX 528.1
34 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 516.4
35 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ 507.3
36 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA 507.1
37 Dayton, OH 496.5
38 Worcester, MA 496.3
39 Lancaster, PA 495.9
40 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 489.7
41 Vallejo-Fairfield, CA 475.8
42 Orlando-Kissimmee, FL 471.1
43 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL 467.7
44 Pittsburgh, PA 460.5
45 Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN 456.9
46 Ann Arbor, MI 454.8
47 Atlantic City, NJ 450.1
48 Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, FL 449.5
49 Reading, PA 435.0
50 Manchester-Nashua, NH 434.6
51 Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC 429.4
52 York-Hanover, PA 422.1
53 Holland-Grand Haven, MI 421.3
54 Canton-Massillon, OH 419.2
55 New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA 417.5
56 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA 408.2
57 Toledo, OH 407.0
58 Columbus, OH 404.8
59 Rockford, IL 402.8
59 Stockton, CA 402.8
61 Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL 401.9
62 Ocean City, NJ 401.0
63 Indianapolis-Carmel, IN 394.8
64 Elkhart-Goshen, IN 394.1
65 Norwich-New London, CT 389.1
66 Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY 384.1
67 Raleigh-Cary, NC 376.7
68 Brownsville-Harlingen, TX 370.1
69 Boulder, CO 369.9
70 Springfield, MA 367.7
71 Carson City, NV 365.9
72 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX 362.8
73 Springfield, OH 362.0
74 Oshkosh-Neenah, WI 357.4
75 Rochester, NY 354.0
76 Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA 353.9
77 Gainesville, GA 353.8
78 Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA 352.7
79 Erie, PA 350.2
80 Jacksonville, FL 348.6
81 Oak Harbor, WA 343.3
82 Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI 334.3
83 South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI 333.5
84 Lebanon, PA 332.5
85 Knoxville, TN 331.8
86 Mobile, AL 324.3
87 Fayetteville, NC 322.4
88 Greensboro-High Point, NC 321.2
89 Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA 321.0
90 Spartanburg, SC 313.0
91 Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA 312.5
92 Sandusky, OH 312.1
93 Burlington, NC 304.2
94 Muncie, IN 302.0
95 Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton, NJ 299.3
96 Modesto, CA 299.2
97 Ogden-Clearfield, UT 297.3
98 Austin-Round Rock, TX 295.9
99 Anderson, IN 295.0
100 Warner Robins, GA 294.0
Not bad at all considering the majority of the "land" is protected wetlands. Only 1116 square miles of the 5125 is urbanized. That's not even 22% of the "land" total..... that is if you can call the other 4000 square miles "land".
It's because the U.S. Census Bureau defines metro areas by "Counties". No matter how small the core community is, the entire County must be included when defining the metro area, according to the system used by U.S. Census Bureau.
San Bernardino, CA is, I believe, the largest County geographically in the U.S. --- And Elko, County, NV is not far behind. Although the Eastern 90% (roughly) of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties is desert wasteland, the whole Counties are included.
Likewise, the Census Bureau defines Metropolitan Washington DC as extending north to the Pennsylvania line because Frederick County, MD extends up that far (almost to Gettysburg).
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Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
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