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No. 2 Hilo, HI is a little misleading. It covers the entire Big Island of Hawaii. In practical, day-to-day terms, the island is usually considered to consist of two sides, the Hilo side to the east and the Kona side to the west. Each of those two cities (the one on the west is properly called Kailua-Kona) acts as the center around which their side of the island revolves. It would be more accurate to say that the island ought to be considered as two micropolitan areas.
No. 86 Key West, FL must be the narrowest micropolitan area in the country. It consists almost entirely of the Florida Keys, stretching close to 100 miles along a single line, linked by a single highway.
I live in the Wooster, Ohio Micropolitan area. I am convinced that Micropolitan areas can't be beat for the ratio of salary to cost of living. When moving to Metropolitan areas, the cost of living rises much faster than the salaries, unless you have very specific and rare job skills.
I wonder how many micros, possibly college towns, were hovering around 50,000 in most recent years only to have their hopes dashed from not actually having enough to advance to metro status from the finally issued official numbers of the 2020 census? Stillwater, OK is one of them. It's 2019 figure was 50,299. For 2020, it's 48,394. Apparently, a bunch of OSU students did not claim Stillwater as residents after OSU shut down in March 2020, due to COVID-19 for the rest of the semester. The 2021 estimate is almost up to 50,000, though.
The government, though, may move up minimum required to be a metro to 100,000. Micros will have to move up from 50,000 to 99,999.
Last edited by StillwaterTownie; 08-12-2021 at 11:56 PM..
I wonder how many micros, possibly college towns, were hovering around 50,000 in most recent years only to have their hopes dashed from not actually having enough to advance to metro status from the finally issued official numbers of the 2020 census? Stillwater, OK is one of them. It's 2019 figure was 50,299. For 2020, it's 48,394. Apparently, a bunch of OSU students did not claim Stillwater as residents after OSU shut down in March 2020, due to COVID-19 for the rest of the semester. The 2021 estimate is almost up to 50,000, though.
The government, though, may move up minimum required to be a metro to 100,000. Micros will have to move up from 50,000 to 99,999.
The threshold to become a metropolitan area is an urban population of 50,000, not a city population of 50,000. Stillwater's 2010 urban population was 44,515, so it's still possible, assuming the threshold isn't raised to 100,000.
I agree that rural college towns seem to have been hit hard with this census. The Census worked with colleges to still count students who lived in group residences (dorms, married student housing, etc.) but it looks like a bunch of students who lived in off campus housing weren't counted. Very frustrating.
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its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
I wonder how many micros, possibly college towns, were hovering around 50,000 in most recent years only to have their hopes dashed from not actually having enough to advance to metro status from the finally issued official numbers of the 2020 census? Stillwater, OK is one of them. It's 2019 figure was 50,299. For 2020, it's 48,394. Apparently, a bunch of OSU students did not claim Stillwater as residents after OSU shut down in March 2020, due to COVID-19 for the rest of the semester. The 2021 estimate is almost up to 50,000, though.
The government, though, may move up minimum required to be a metro to 100,000. Micros will have to move up from 50,000 to 99,999.
There are no 2021 estimates. You might be looking at the 2020 estimates which came out before the census.
Yeah a few months ago I was curious to see if there were any cases where a city with more than 50,000 people was just a micropolitan area, because the population was too spread out for it to all be one urban area (and thus quality as metropolitan), and Stillwater was the only example I found.
I think 100k makes sense for metropolitan. Here in Washington, I don't really think of Longview or Yakima as major cities (certainly not Walla Walla), but they do have over 50k people in the UA so they're counted as metropolitan areas.
It depends what you want but here are some of the more interesting possibilities imo:
Cookeville and Greeneville TN
Kalispell and Helena MT
Northfield, Winona, Grand Rapids, Brainerd and Fergus Falls MN (and take your pick of a bunch of places in Wisconsin too)
Stephenville, Brenham, Uvalde TX
LaGrande and Prineville OR
Ellensburg WA
Fernley, Fallon, Elko NV
Cullowhee, Brevard, Boone NC
Moscow, Mountain Home ID
Laramie, Sheridan WY
Brookings, Spearfish SD
Heber, Cedar City Utah
Bardstown KY
Durant Oklahoma is a faster growing micropolitan area that is part of the CMSA DFW as a results of its close business ties to DFW. In the past it has been the county seat of Bryan County the fastest growing county in Oklahoma that is not part of OKC or Tulsa metros.
It has attracted some large operating locations because of its proximity to DFW but subject to the less regulated Oklahoma rules and cost structure rather compared to Denison and Sherman Texas which are just 20 and 30 miles closer to DFW respectively.
Up until about 20 years ago, large employers wanting a more rural location would chose the two Texas cities mentioned over Durant. But that changed a few years go when Cardinal Glass moved to Durant from Chicago and built a large plant to make glass. They were followed by a Big Lots warehouse and a couple of years ago by micro steel recycling mill which selected Durant over multiple locations in 5 states. A Spanish Pipe company chose Durant as its N. America HQ to be near the mill.
Another huge impact is the Choctaw tribes decision to relocate its HQ to Durant and to build a large casino which has doubled in size twice in the past 7 or 8 years. They have been a good citizen and supported the growth cities above as they own businesses in Durant area which benefit from the 100 trucks bringing scape steel to the mill to be melted down in a 1300 degree electric furnace to turn into rebar, pipe, etc.
Durant has a small state university which has a strong music focus which along with the casino bring higher profile groups to perform in Durant. Its a hilly green part of Oklahoma with good schools all of which contribute to its strong growth counter to most under 50k population counties.
Durant is around 85 miles from DT Dallas and twice that part from OKC and even further from Tulsa so its a Texas focused location.
A few of those cities on that list are still classified as MSA's and not Micropolitan areas. Muskegon MI being the first one I see. Is there an official government list that's not been messed with?
The official list is posted by the Office of Management and Budget. They do a major update every 5-10 years (last one in 2018) and then do mini-updates to promote/demote micropolitan areas that cross the 50k barrier using ACS data.
"OMB Bulletin No. 20-01, Revised Delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas, and Guidance on Uses of Delineations of These Areas"
Are there any cities that have actually been demoted from metropolitan to micropolitan, or micropolitan to nothing (because of population decline, not just changing definitions)?
Certainly there are cities that have lost a large percentage of their population, but typically a lot of that loss is people moving into the suburbs, or ghost towns that declined long before the Census created these categories. And it would have to be after the micropolitan definition was codified in 2003. If there are any towns like this, I imagine they're in, like, West Virginia or the Great Plains (so people leaving because there's just no opportunity, not inner-city issues), and were just barely above the micro/metro threshold to begin with.
Are there any cities that have actually been demoted from metropolitan to micropolitan, or micropolitan to nothing (because of population decline, not just changing definitions)?
Certainly there are cities that have lost a large percentage of their population, but typically a lot of that loss is people moving into the suburbs, or ghost towns that declined long before the Census created these categories. And it would have to be after the micropolitan definition was codified in 2003. If there are any towns like this, I imagine they're in, like, West Virginia or the Great Plains (so people leaving because there's just no opportunity, not inner-city issues), and were just barely above the micro/metro threshold to begin with.
That is an interesting question. In 1990, Enid, OK went to 50,363 and declared a metro. But every decade since then it went to just below 50,000. But in 2020, it became Oklahoma's 9th largest city with a bit over 50,000.
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