A new functional classification of U.S. metropolitan and micropolitan areas.

ABSTRACT: This study develops a new functional classification of metropolitan and micropolitan areas in the United States. The methodology used was based on the widely used locational quotient and the Coefficient of Specialization (also known as the Index of Divergence). Determining a specialty or which industrial category may be dominant was set to be the outliers above the upper inner fence for each distribution. The units of analysis were all 927 United States metropolitan and micropolitan areas, excluding Puerto Rico. Readily available employment data from the American Community Survey for 2021 was used. Issues and problems with previous classification systems, such as the reliance on a small number of large cities, the inclusion of unpublished data, and subjectivity, were avoided. A relatively

SUBMITTER: Pendergrass RW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12533906 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature