Cities formerly designated as metros with core populations between 50,000 and 100,000 people would be changed to micropolitan" statistical areas instead.
Officials in some of the affected cities worry that the change could have adverse implications for federal funding and economic development.
Cities formerly designated as metros with core populations between 50,000 and 100,000 people, like Bismarck and Sheboygan, would be changed to “micropolitan" statistical areas instead.
“Back in the 1950s, the population it took to create a metro area is different than it would be to create a metro area in 2020," said Rob Santos, president of the American Statistical Association.
AdSome demographers aren't sold on the idea of changing the definition of a metro area.