major us metro areas

Major U.S. Metro Areas

Study the 51 metro area records used by USGuess. Each record uses an official Census/OMB statistical-area title and a representative core-city point, not a CBSA boundary map or county-membership directory.

Practice Metro Area Quiz Map-based rounds Hub U.S. Geography Quiz More place games

metro bank

51 records

Representative core-city points for high-signal U.S. metro-area practice.

state span

40 states/DC

15 records cross more than one state in the Census/OMB title.

source group

us-census-metro-micro-delineation-files

Visible in data and reference pages so source policy is reviewable before launch.

region groups

Grouped by map region

The region is attached to the representative core-city point. It is not a replacement for the Census/OMB metro definition.

Northeast

7 metros

Boston Massachusetts

Buffalo New York

Hartford Connecticut

New York City New York

Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

Providence Rhode Island

South

21 metros

Atlanta Georgia

Austin Texas

Baltimore Maryland

Birmingham Alabama

Charlotte North Carolina

Dallas-Fort Worth Texas

Houston Texas

Jacksonville Florida

Midwest

10 metros

Chicago Illinois

Cincinnati Ohio

Cleveland Ohio

Columbus Ohio

Detroit Michigan

Indianapolis Indiana

Kansas City Missouri

Milwaukee Wisconsin

West

13 metros

Albuquerque New Mexico

Denver Colorado

Las Vegas Nevada

Los Angeles California

Phoenix Arizona

Portland Oregon

Riverside California

Sacramento California

metro study list

51-record launch reference

Use the full official title as the answer label in the quiz. The core city is only the representative map point used for learning.

Metro area Core city Core state Metro states Region

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area Chicago Illinois Illinois / Indiana Midwest

Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area Cincinnati Ohio Ohio / Kentucky / Indiana Midwest

Cleveland, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area Cleveland Ohio Ohio Midwest

Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area Columbus Ohio Ohio Midwest

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area Detroit Michigan Michigan Midwest

Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area Indianapolis Indiana Indiana Midwest

Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area Kansas City Missouri Missouri / Kansas Midwest

Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area Milwaukee Wisconsin Wisconsin Midwest

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area Minneapolis-St. Paul Minnesota Minnesota / Wisconsin Midwest

St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area St. Louis Missouri Missouri / Illinois Midwest

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area Boston Massachusetts Massachusetts / New Hampshire Northeast

Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area Buffalo New York New York Northeast

Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area Hartford Connecticut Connecticut Northeast

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area New York City New York New York / New Jersey Northeast

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area Philadelphia Pennsylvania Pennsylvania / New Jersey / Delaware / Maryland Northeast

Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Northeast

Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area Providence Rhode Island Rhode Island / Massachusetts Northeast

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area Atlanta Georgia Georgia South

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area Austin Texas Texas South

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area Baltimore Maryland Maryland South

Birmingham, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area Birmingham Alabama Alabama South

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area Charlotte North Carolina North Carolina / South Carolina South

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area Dallas-Fort Worth Texas Texas South

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area Houston Texas Texas South

Jacksonville, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area Jacksonville Florida Florida South

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area Louisville Kentucky Kentucky / Indiana South

Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area Memphis Tennessee Tennessee / Mississippi / Arkansas South

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area Miami Florida Florida South

Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area Nashville Tennessee Tennessee South

New Orleans-Metairie, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area New Orleans Louisiana Louisiana South

Oklahoma City, OK Metropolitan Statistical Area Oklahoma City Oklahoma Oklahoma South

Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area Orlando Florida Florida South

Raleigh-Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area Raleigh North Carolina North Carolina South

Richmond, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area Richmond Virginia Virginia South

San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area San Antonio Texas Texas South

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area Tampa Florida Florida South

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area Virginia Beach Virginia Virginia / North Carolina South

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area Washington, DC District of Columbia District of Columbia / Virginia / Maryland / West Virginia South

Albuquerque, NM Metropolitan Statistical Area Albuquerque New Mexico New Mexico West

Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area Denver Colorado Colorado West

Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area Las Vegas Nevada Nevada West

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area Los Angeles California California West

Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metropolitan Statistical Area Phoenix Arizona Arizona West

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area Portland Oregon Oregon / Washington West

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area Riverside California California West

Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area Sacramento California California West

Salt Lake City-Murray, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area Salt Lake City Utah Utah West

San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area San Diego California California West

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area San Francisco California California West

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area San Jose California California West

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area Seattle Washington Washington West

source checks

Official facts, no copied maps

The launch seed uses official statistical-area titles and self-drawn map points. It avoids copied source maps, agency artwork, boundary files, and third-party tile layers.

Census Metro/Micro Areas

Official Census program page for metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas.

Census Delineation Files

Reference hub for Census/OMB CBSA delineation files used to review metro titles.

source and asset policy

Representative core-city points only

Metro records are a manually reviewed launch seed checked against Census/OMB July 2023 CBSA delineation files, public city facts, and representative core-city coordinate checks.

USGuess does not use CBSA boundary geometry, official map screenshots, OSM tiles, commute-flow polygons, agency artwork, logos, or copied maps.

Source group us-census-metro-micro-delineation-files Source URL https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/demo/metro-micro/delineation-files.html

Census metro/micro delineation files