Author: Jamie Vaughn
North Carolina's Changing Metropolitan Statistical Areas
In July 2023, The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released updates to the country’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) definitions[1]. North Carolina saw several changes that are reflective of the dynamic nature of our state's population and economic growth and tell an interesting story about the evolving landscape of urban development across the State.
While the changes were announced nearly 20 months ago, they have not yet been reflected in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) statistics. These new definitions will be used for the data updates for LAUS, CES, and QCEW starting with the data released on March 17, 2025 and the OEWS data which will be released shortly thereafter. **Historical data published by LEAD on D4.nccommerce.com will be revised to reflect the new MSAs for the LAUS, CES, and QCEW programs. Due to the way the data is collected, historical OEWS data will continue to use the old geographic definitions and will not be updated.**
North Carolina’s Changing MSA Landscape
One MSA added and three were expanded (green counties above)
- Moore County now has the newly created Southern Pines-Pinehurst MSA.
- Anson County has been added to the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia MSA.
- Camden County has been added to the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk MSA
- Brunswick County, previously in the Myrtle Beach MSA, has now moved to the Wilmington MSA.
An MSAs was eliminated and one MSA county was removed (red counties above)
- Haywood County was removed from the Asheville MSA.
- The New Bern MSA, which included Craven, Jones, and Pamlico counties, has been moved to a Micropolitan Statistical Area[2].
New MSA Definitions
| MSA | NC Counties Included in MSA |
|---|---|
| Asheville MSA | Buncombe, Henderson, Madison |
| Burlington, MSA | Alamance |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia MSA | Anson, Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Union |
| Durham-Chapel Hill MSA | Chatham, Durham, Orange, Person |
| Fayetteville MSA | Cumberland, Hoke |
| Greensboro-High Point MSA | Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham |
| Greenville MSA | Pitt |
| Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton MSA | Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba |
| Jacksonville MSA | Onslow |
| Pinehurst-Southern Pines MSA | Moore |
| Raleigh-Cary MSA | Franklin, Johnston, Wake |
| Rocky Mount MSA | Edgecombe, Nash |
| Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk MSA | Camden, Currituck, Gates |
| Wilmington MSA | Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender |
| Winston-Salem MSA | Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Stokes, Yadkin |
MSA designations provide a framework for analyzing statistical data to help compare trends and economic activity for urban centers and their surrounding communities. The resulting data from these newly defined geographies can be used to formulate policies designed to stimulate economic growth in a region.
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updates the definitions of metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) every 10 years – although modest revisions often happen in between. These updates are published in the year of the decennial census.
[1] A metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographic region centered around an urban area with a population of at least 50,000 people,
[2] A micropolitan statistical area (μSA) is a smaller region centered around an urban area with a population between 10,000 and 50,000 people; essentially, a micropolitan area is a smaller, less populated version of a metropolitan area.