How a metro area is defined
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) draws metro areas from whole counties, using Census population and commuting data:
- Core. An urbanized area of at least 50,000 people forms the center. Its county is a central county.
- Outlying counties. A neighboring county joins when at least a quarter of its workers commute into the central counties, or a quarter of the jobs there are filled by commuters from them.
- Name. The metro takes the names of up to three principal cities and the states it touches, for example Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX.
- Smaller areas. A core of 10,000 to 50,000 people makes a micropolitan area; counties outside both are nonmetropolitan. Neighboring metro and micro areas with strong commuting ties can also be grouped into a combined statistical area (CSA).
Because the building blocks are counties, a metro area is usually much larger than its main city: it covers the suburbs, satellite towns and rural edges where the city's workers live.
Metro area vs. city
A city is a legal municipality with its own limits and government; a metro area is a labor market. Wage surveys report the metro, not the city, so Fort Worth and Arlington share the figures of Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX ($70,630 average salary). The same goes for the secondary cities below.
| Metro area | Also includes | Average salary |
|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | Newark, Jersey City | $86,310 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | Long Beach, Anaheim | $77,270 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | Naperville, Elgin | $73,380 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | Fort Worth, Arlington | $70,630 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | Pasadena, The Woodlands | $67,610 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | Arlington, Alexandria | $91,930 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | Camden, Wilmington | $71,730 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | Sandy Springs, Roswell | $71,900 |
Metro areas that cross state lines
43 of the 393 metro areas reach into more than one state, because commuting ignores borders. Pay figures cover the whole metro, but income tax follows the state where you work, so job pages in these metros show take-home pay for each state.
| Metro area | States | Average salary |
|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 2 | $86,310 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 2 | $73,380 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 4 | $91,930 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 4 | $71,730 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 2 | $89,620 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 2 | $74,580 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 2 | $68,900 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | 2 | $66,330 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 2 | $78,430 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 3 | $67,370 |
The largest U.S. metro areas by jobs
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ is the largest labor market, with 9,492,000 jobs. The map shows every metro area we cover, colored by average salary.
| Metro area | Jobs | Average salary | Median salary | Cost of living |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | 9,492,000 | $86,310 | $61,430 | 112.6 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 6,271,560 | $77,270 | $55,850 | 113.6 |
| Chicago, IL | 4,513,280 | $73,380 | $54,720 | 103.6 |
| Dallas, TX | 4,049,800 | $70,630 | $51,440 | 103.1 |
| Houston, TX | 3,289,720 | $67,610 | $49,410 | 98.6 |
| Washington, DC | 3,136,190 | $91,930 | $71,060 | 108.9 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 2,897,830 | $71,730 | $54,310 | 102.6 |
| Atlanta, GA | 2,889,670 | $71,900 | $51,170 | 100.1 |
| Miami, FL | 2,819,940 | $67,190 | $48,640 | 114.2 |
| Boston, MA | 2,703,890 | $89,620 | $66,620 | 108.3 |
Map: every U.S. metro area we cover
Loading map…
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Why salary data is reported by metro area
Employers in a metro area compete for the same commuting workforce, so pay settles at a similar level across it. That is why the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics by metro area, and why comparing two metros, not two city halls, tells you what a move does to your pay. Prices follow the same logic: BEA price parities are also published by metro area, which is what the cost of living calculator uses.
More salary guides
Metro areas: questions
Is a metro area the same as a county?
No. A metro area is built from one or more whole counties: a central county with the core city plus any neighboring counties with strong commuting ties.
What is the difference between an MSA and a CSA?
An MSA (metropolitan statistical area) is a single labor market around a core of 50,000+ people. A CSA (combined statistical area) groups neighboring metro and micropolitan areas that are linked by commuting.
How many metro areas does BLS publish wages for?
393 in the May 2025 estimates, including Puerto Rico. Rural counties are grouped into nonmetropolitan areas by state.
Why is my city not listed?
Smaller cities belong to a larger metro area or to a nonmetropolitan area. Search for the nearest large city, or use the state page, which covers every employer in the state.
Sources and how to read this page
- Definitions: Office of Management and Budget, standards for delineating core based statistical areas (2020), as applied in the 2023 delineations.
- Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 national, state and metro estimates.
- Cost of living: Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities, 2024.
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