A tool to analyze economic heterogeneity of
metropolitan areas in the United States
Page developed by Miguel Pérez Rodríguez
Overview
This webpage presents economic data for each Metropolitan Statistical
Area (MSA) in the United States in two ways: (i) an interactive map
that shows a general overview of heterogeneity in the United States by different
economic variables, and (ii) an interactive bar graph
that shows the percentile of the selected Metropolitan Area for each economic
variable in comparison to the other MSAs in the country.
The economic variables available to analyze are (i) per capita
income, current levels (2023) and growth over time, (ii)
population, current levels (2023) and growth over time, and (iii)
general and housing regional price indices, current levels (2022).
Economic Outlook of Metropolitan Areas in the United States at a Glance
Select minimum population (in millions) for Metropolitan Areas:
Select attribute to analyze the Metropolitan Areas:
Tip 1: Hover over an MSA (colored areas) to see information about the
chosen economic variable for that area. Tip 2: With the mouse you can zoom and move around the map
(for example, to see Alaska and Hawaii).
Economic Outlook of the selected Metropolitan Area
Select the FIPS code of the Metropolitan Area of your interest here:
Note: You can use the keyboard to select the area
instead of using the mouse.
Tip 1: Hover over a bar related to a variable to see information about
that variable for the MSA and the US. Tip 2: If you don't know the FIPS code of the MSA of
your interest, you can search it in the map above. Note on interpretation: This graph shows the percentile
of the selected MSA for each variable in comparison to the rest of the MSAs
in the United States. For example, if the value related to "Per Capita Income"
is 90, it means that the selected MSA has a per capita income
higher than 90% of all MSAs in the United States.
Motivation
This webpage attempts to analyze economic heterogeneity in the United
States at the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) level with two
questions that a user could have in mind: (i) "Where are things going
economically better and worse in the United States?", and (ii)
"How is a particular area doing in comparison to the rest of the United States?"
Common approaches to do this type of analysis are at the County and State level,
the analysis at the MSA level presented here is an intermediate
level of analysis that is currently scarce and shows important
economical differences across MSA in the country.
By definition, each MSA has at least one urban core and includes
adjacent communities having a high degree of economic and social integration.
Also, MSAs have at least a population of 50,000 or more inhabitants. MSAs are
defined periodically by the US government. Due to its characteristics, an analysis
at the MSA level can capture important trends in metropolitan economic activity
that reflect actual economic relationships inside each area.
As an interactive tool, the conclusions are up to the user, but overall, it is
easy to see huge differences in almost every economic variable across the different MSA
in the United States. Here are a couple of examples that I hope spark the curiosity
of the reader:
While the average personal income per capita in MSAs in the United States is USD 72k,
there are MSAs with personal incomes as high as 145k and as low as 38k, with a median
across MSAs of 59k.
While the average growth of the personal income per capita in MSAs in the United States
in the last 30 years is 215%, there are MSAs with personal incomes as
high as 507% and as low as 146%, with a median across MSAs of 206%.
By construction the average housing price index in the United States is 100,
but there are MSAs with a housing index as high as 239 and as low as 51,
with a median across MSAs of 79.
There is geographical correlation in the housing price index,
with the housing of MSAs in the northeast and southwest of the country being
considerably more expensive than the rest of the country.
There is also geographical correlation in population growth,
with MSAs of the southeast and south of the country having considerably larger
rates of population growth in the last 5 and 10 years (in the case
of 10 years, their population growth is generally between 10% and 20%,
while the US average is 6%).
While there is some geographical correlation in the per capita income,
with the MSAs on the northeast coast of the country having consistently
larger levels of per capita income, the map also shows that there are
states with significant intra-state inequality among their MSAs,
with California and Florida being two of the most unequal.
With these examples in mind I hope that you have developed some curiosity
about the topic, and that you enjoy exploring the data by yourself.