Metropolitan Statistical Area
A CBSA anchored by an urban area of at least 50,000 people, encompassing the core county and economically linked surrounding counties.
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) are the larger category of CBSA, built around urban centers with populations of 50,000 or more. The New York-Newark-Jersey City MSA, for instance, includes 23 counties across four states and is home to over 20 million people, making it the largest MSA in the United States.
OMB assigns each MSA a 5-digit CBSA code and a descriptive title based on the principal cities. Some MSAs are further grouped into Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs) when adjacent MSAs share substantial employment interchange.
ZIP code databases frequently include the MSA code for each ZIP, enabling users to aggregate statistics at the metro-area level. Marketing firms, government agencies, and researchers use MSA designations for market sizing, federal funding allocation, and economic analysis.