Nebraska Metro & Micro Statistical Areas
By Scott Hunzeker

The federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) develops the standards that define metropolitan areas and micropolitan areas. These standards, created in 2000, were recently applied to Census 2000 data to produce several new Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical areas.

To be classified as a Metropolitan Statistical Area, an area must have an urban population core of at least 50,000 people. Adjacent counties that have strong social and economic ties to the core, based on commuting patterns, may also be included in the Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Micropolitan Statistical Areas, newly defined statistical areas, have a population core between 10,000 and 50,000. Like metropolitan areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas also include adjacent counties where there is a high degree of social and economic integration with the main population base.

Metropolitan Statistical Areas
Based on the old definitions from the OMB and data from the 1990 Census, Nebraska had counties in three Metropolitan Statistical Areas: Sioux City, Omaha, and Lincoln. Nebraska counties are still included in three Metropolitan Statistical Areas, but these areas have grown significantly. The map below shows the newly defined Metropolitan Statistical Areas.
As can be seen below, the Sioux City Metropolitan Statistical Area now includes Union County in South Dakota, Woodbury County in Iowa, and Dixon and Dakota Counties in Nebraska. This area formerly consisted of only Woodbury and Dakota Counties.
The Lincoln Metropolitan Statistical Area, previously only Lancaster County, now includes Lancaster and Seward Counties.

The Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Statistical Area now includes Harrison, Pottawattamie, and Mills Counties in Iowa and Washington, Douglas, Sarpy, Cass, and Saunders Counties in Nebraska. Formerly this area was referred to only as the Omaha Metropolitan Statistical Area and consisted of only five counties: Pottawattamie in Iowa, and Washington, Douglas, Cass, and Sarpy in Nebraska.

The maps on page 13 show areas included in Metropolitan Statistical Areas in 1990 compared to the area covered by Metro and Micro areas using the 2000 area definitions.

              

Micropolitan Statistical Areas
As stated previously, Micropolitan Statistical Areas are newly created statistical areas by the federal Office of Management and Budget. There are ten areas in Nebraska that fit the criteria of a Micropolitan Statistical Area. These areas all have a core population of 10,000 to 50,000 with a surrounding area of strong social and economic ties. The Micropolitan Statistical Areas can be seen on the map above.

The ten cities that serve as the population base for Nebraska’s Micropolitan Statistical Areas are: Beatrice, Columbus, Fremont, Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney, Lexington, Norfolk, North Platte, and Scottsbluff.

In Nebraska, about 78% of the population lives in one of the Metropolitan or Micropolitan Statistical Areas – 55% in one of the Metropolitan Statistical Areas and 23% in one of the Micropolitan Statistical Areas.

In Nebraska, 29 of the 93 counties (31%) are included on either a Metropolitan or Micropolitan Statistical Area. This is in contrast to 56% of all counties nationwide that are included in a Metropolitan or Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Information produced by the Nebraska Labor Market Information Center will not be available for the new Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas for some time. Data produced in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, including nonfarm payroll estimates, hours and earnings figures, unemployment rates, and other information included in Economic Trends will be available for the new Metropolitan Statistical Areas beginning in January 2005. Some information will not be available for Micropolitan Statistical Areas due to the smaller population base in these areas.



For more information about the new Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas, visit:
Office of Management and Budget: /www.whitehouse.gov/omb/bulletins/b03-04.html
U.S. Census Bureau: www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metroarea.html
Bureau of Labor Statistics: www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm