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METRO  (H 47) 
Metropolitan status 

Availability: 
1850
1860
1870
1880
1900
1910
1920
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
S
S,M
M

Universe: 
1850 - 1960: All households and group quarters. 
1970:            All households and group quarters in State sample. 
1980:            All households and group quarters in State and Metro samples. 
1990:            All households and group quarters. 

Codes and Frequencies

Description: 
METRO indicates whether or not the household was located in a metropolitan area, and whether metropolitan-area households resided within a metropolitan area's central city (or cities), or within the remainder of the metropolitan area. Confidentiality requirements, sampling issues, and definitions of metropolitan areas complicate the coding of this variable; see the comparability discussion below for further information. 

Comparability: 
While METRO yields essentially the same information for all years, the comparability of the variable is limited by two important factors: 

  1. Definitions of what is "metropolitan" have changed slightly from census to census; see the IPUMS variable METAREA for further discussion of this issue.
  2. Since 1940, confidentiality requirements limit the METRO detail for some households. The following year-by-year discussion offers a more complete record of the confidentiality and sampling issues, but for a fuller picture, users should consult METAREA.
  • 1850-1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920: There are no confidentiality requirements and the metro/nonmetro and central city distinctions are made for all households.
  • 1940 and 1950: The metro/nonmetro distinction is indicated for all households, even for those in metropolitan areas too small to be identified individually in the IPUMS variable METAREA. A household’s central city status was identified only if the central city (or cities) and the remainder of their metropolitan area each exceeded 100,000 residents in 1980. For interstate metropolitan areas, these criteria were applied separately to each portion within a particular state. Households in metropolitan areas not meeting these criteria are classified as "In metro area, central city status unknown." The 1940 PUMS retroactively identified a number of metropolitan areas that did not meet the necessary criteria. These are coded non-metropolitan in METRO (see METAREA for further discussion).
  • 1960 and 1970: The samples are designed so that no geographic space containing fewer than 250,000 residents can be identified directly or indirectly. As applied to this variable, this meant that for 1960 and 1970 metro and central city status could not be revealed for households in the following states or state portions; households in these areas are all coded "0" ("Not identifiable") in the IPUMS:
  • 1960: The entire states of Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah; plus the rural parts of Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, West Virginia, Wisconsin; plus the urban part of Maryland.
  • 1970: The entire states of Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Hew Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah; plus the rural parts of Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, West Virginia; plus the urban parts of Connecticut and Maryland.
  • 1980: Metropolitan and central city status is made for all households in the Metro sample. This status is not identifiable for some households in the State sample because that sample's geographical scheme does not always follow Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area lines.
  • 1990: The metro/nonmetro distinction and central city status is made for almost all households in the Metro and State samples.  METRO is a recode of PUMATYPE, and some households in the Metro sample are identified as living in mixed metro/nonmetro area (these cases are coded N/A in METRO).  Metropolitan status is also unknown for some households in the State sample because that sample's geographical scheme does not always follow METAREA lines. 
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