GIS Lookup: Detailed Data Layer Listing

Title: "NTAD: National Metropolitan Statistical Areas" (2004)
 
Description: The United States MSA Boundaries data set contains the boundaries for metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. The data set contains information on location, identification, and size. The database includes metropolitan boundaries within all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The general concept of a metropolitan area (MA) is one of a large population nucleus, together with adjacent communities that have a high degree of economic and social integration with that nucleus. Some MAs are defined around two or more nuclei. Each MA must contain either a place with a minimum population of 50,000 or a U.S. Census Bureau-defined urbanized area and a total MA population of at least 100,000 (75,000 in New England). An MA contains one or more central counties. An MA also may include one or more outlying counties that have close economic and social relationships with the central county. An outlying county must have a specified level of commuting to the central counties and also must meet certain standards regarding metropolitan character, such as population density, urban population, and population growth. In New England, MAs consist of groupings of cities and towns rather than whole counties. The territory, population, and housing units in MAs are referred to as "metropolitan." The metropolitan category is subdivided into "inside central city" and "outside central city." The territory, population, and housing units located outside territory designated "metropolitan" are referred to as "non-metropolitan." The metropolitan and non-metropolitan classification cuts across the other hierarchies; for example, generally there are both urban and rural territory within both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. The data provide users with information about the locations, names, and sizes of MSAs primarily for national planning applications. The MA(s) and the central cities within an MA are designated and defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB), following a set of official standards that are published in a Federal Register Notice. The interagency Federal Executive Committee on Metropolitan Areas developed these standards, with the aim of producing definitions that are as consistent as possible for all MA(s) nationwide.
 
Keywords and Themes: Boundaries, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA),
 
Filename Prefix: msa
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Mapped Drive Folder: /fedgov/bts/ntad04/polygon/msa/
Total size of data files: 2.62 MB
 
Data Type: ESRI Shapefile
Feature Type: Polygon
Coordinate System: GCS_WGS_1984
Datum: D_WGS_1984Map Units: Decimal degrees

Spatial Extent: United States and Territories
Source Scale: The Metropolitan Statistical Areas database was compiled from TIGER/Line data with a corresponding positional accuracy of +/- 80m for the contiguous 48 States plus Washington D.C. and Hawaii. TIGER/Line files for Puerto Rico and Alaska are at a scale of 1:125,000. The shorelines for the 23 coastal states were created using 1:250,000 NOS digital data which has a positional accuracy of +/- 200m. Thus, all internal political boundaries have a higher accuracy than do the coastal definitions with the exception of Puerto Rico and Alaska.

Created by: U.S. Bureau of the Census (BOC)
Released by: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
Content Date: 2000
Published Date: 20040518

Collection Name: National Transportation Atlas Databases (NTAD) 2004
Physical Location: Reference Gov. Docs. CD Cabinet
Call Number:
Acquired Date: 20040901
Distribution Restrictions: Public Domain

Note: Acknowledgment of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) National Transportation Atlas Databases (NTAD) 2004 would be appreciated in products derived from these data.

Links to Metadata, Documentation, and Mapping:

Record ID: 2506_ntad04

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