re: Size and Growth of SEC Metros

METROPOLITAN AREA: A metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as a metro area or commuter belt, is a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing.

MICROPOLITAN AREA: Same as metropolitan area, but a micropolitan area contains an urban core of at least 10,000, but less than 50,000, population.

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The lesson here is pretty much the lesson of the last half-century. The primary thrust of population migration has been toward urban centers.

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That's actually just partially true.

As far as Domestic Migration, people are actually fleeing the large major US Metros.

Of the 53 Major US Metros with a population of 1 Million people or more, 2016 estimated Net Domestic Migration was actually -63,832. So in other words, as for US Citizens, a net of 63,000 picked up and moved out of a major metro in 2016 compared to those moving in.

Meanwhile, during the same period of time, a net of +155,377 moved to the "smaller" US Metros sized between 250,000 and just under 1 Million people.

The three largest US Metros saw gigantic losses in 2016 in terms of Net Domestic Migration. New York lost a net of 200,000 people to other places in the US. Los Angeles and Chicago both lost a net of 90,000 each to other places in the US.

Of the 11 largest metros in the US, only 3 saw an increase in 2016 in terms of Net Domestic Migrants (Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta).

The major metros are still growing at a faster rate, but almost all of the growth is by Natural Increase (Births - Deaths) or International Immigration.

Here is how the 53 Major Metros have grown their combined populations since 2010:

+5,975,544- Natural Increases (Births - Deaths)
+4,394,767- Net International Migrants
+222,332- Net Domestic Migrants

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quote:Curious on what they considered as Metro. You would have to expand the city boundaries to Birmingham for Tuscaloosa and Montgomery for Auburn to show those population levels. Tuscaloosa MSA is defined as Tuscaloosa County. Auburn-Opelika MSA is defined as Lee County. Those totals are simply the total population of those counties.

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Is Birmingham just Jefferson County ? Which is misleading if so. You would think it would be defined by a measurement (distance) from the city limits.

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Essentially it all deals with how many people commute in. If something like 25% of a county's workforce commutes into the city for work, it is included in the metro.

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Yes.

I think it is strange that Eureka Springs (Carroll County) isn't considered a part of the NWA metro, but there just isn't a lot of commuting happening (yet).

McDonald County, MO is included, because its population is centered down along the MO/AR line, and those people are 20 minutes from Bentonville. They also shop and dine in Rogers/Bville.

Fayetteville is more or less the tail-end of it's own metro. The area to the south of town is very rural and rugged mountain land. Not a lot of people live down there.

Huntsville will be the largest "city" by population in the state within 10-15 years unless something drastic happens. Probably even sooner. The metro will never be the size of the Bham metro with Hoover bringing over 100k to Bham but the city itself will be passed. Huntsville metro has a projected max at 700k depending on areas included. I believe Bham's max projection for its metro is 1.6 million.

Starkville sucks.

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Meanwhile, during the same period of time, a net of +155,377 moved to the "smaller" US Metros sized between 250,000 and just under 1 Million people.

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I count the "smaller" metros as urban, though. I currently live in a city that's barely above the 250k mark and it is most definitely a city. Hell, there's not a single city in North Carolina (where I live) that breaks the 850k mark, including Charlotte. The smaller metros may not be concrete jungles, but they're definitely solidly in the category of large city.