The U.S. state of Washington has 29 statistical areas that have been delineated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). On July 21, 2023, the OMB delineated six combined statistical areas, 13 metropolitan statistical areas, and ten micropolitan statistical areas in Washington.[1] As of 2023, the largest of these is the Seattle-Tacoma, WA CSA, anchored by Washington's largest city, Seattle and including its capital, Olympia.
The state historically had three metropolitan areas: Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma. Seattle and Tacoma were eventually merged, while other metropolitan areas were added in the 1970s and 1980s.[2]
Background
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has designated more than 1,000 statistical areas for the United States and Puerto Rico.[3] These statistical areas are important geographic delineations of population clusters used by the OMB, the United States Census Bureau, planning organizations, and federal, state, and local government entities.
The OMB defines a core-based statistical area (commonly referred to as a CBSA) as the county or counties (or county-equivalents) surrounding at least one densely-settled core of at least 10,000 population,[3] "plus adjacent counties having a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured through commuting ties with the counties containing the core".[3] The OMB further divides core-based statistical areas based on population into metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) for those with at least 50,000 and micropolitan statistical areas (μSAs) for those with 10,000 to 49,999 people.[3]
The OMB defines a combined statistical area (CSA) as two or more adjacent core-based statistical areas where the employment interchange rate (% commuting from A to B plus % commuting from B to A) is at least 15%.[3] The primary statistical areas (PSAs) include all combined statistical areas and any core-based statistical area that is not a constituent of a combined statistical area.
Table
Primary statistical areas
Primary statistical areas (PSAs) include all combined statistical areas and any core-based statistical area that is not a constituent of a combined statistical area. Of the 29 statistical areas of Washington, 14 are PSAs comprising six combined statistical areas, four metropolitan statistical areas and four micropolitan statistical areas.
| 2020 rank | Primary statistical area[1] | Population | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 estimate[4] | Change | 2020 Census[5] | Change | 2010 Census[6] | ||
| 1 | Seattle-Tacoma, WA CSA | 4,993,725 | +0.81% | 4,953,421 | +15.88% | 4,274,767 |
| 2 | Portland-Vancouver-Salem, OR-WA CSA (WA) | 646,654 | +3.29% | 626,077 | +16.19% | 538,839 |
| 3 | Spokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d'Alene, WA-ID CSA | 600,292 | +2.48% | 585,784 | +13.80% | 514,752 |
| 4 | Kennewick-Richland-Walla Walla, WA CSA | 375,821 | +2.63% | 366,206 | +17.33% | 312,121 |
| 5 | Yakima, WA MSA | 256,643 | −0.03% | 256,728 | +5.55% | 243,231 |
| 6 | Bellingham, WA MSA | 231,919 | +2.24% | 226,847 | +12.78% | 201,140 |
| 7 | Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA MSA | 124,795 | +2.28% | 122,012 | +10.04% | 110,884 |
| 8 | Moses Lake-Othello, WA CSA | 123,498 | +3.14% | 119,736 | +11.02% | 107,848 |
| 9 | Port Angeles, WA μSA | 77,616 | +0.60% | 77,155 | +8.05% | 71,404 |
| 10 | Aberdeen, WA μSA | 77,290 | +2.19% | 75,636 | +3.90% | 72,797 |
| 11 | Pullman-Moscow, WA-ID CSA (WA) | 48,012 | +0.08% | 47,973 | +7.14% | 44,776 |
| 12 | Ellensburg, WA μSA | 45,508 | +2.64% | 44,337 | +8.36% | 40,915 |
| 13 | Port Townsend, WA μSA | 33,714 | +2.23% | 32,977 | +10.39% | 29,872 |
| 14 | Lewiston, ID-WA MSA (WA) | 22,549 | +1.18% | 22,285 | +3.06% | 21,623 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Salem, OR-WA CSA | 3,286,669 | +0.18% | 3,280,736 | +12.30% | 2,921,408 | |
| Spokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d'Alene, WA-ID CSA | 785,302 | +3.72% | 757,146 | +15.91% | 653,246 | |
| Pullman-Moscow, WA-ID CSA | 89,313 | +2.08% | 87,490 | +6.67% | 82,020 | |
| Lewiston, ID-WA MSA | 65,536 | +1.80% | 64,375 | +5.73% | 60,888 | |
See also
Notes
- An out-of-state area and its population are displayed in green. An area that extends into more than one state is displayed in purple. A purple population number over a black population number show the total population versus the in-state population. The state's abbreviation is also shown next to the in-state total.
References
External links
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