U.S. Metro Areas Exported $1.5 Trillion in Merchandise Across the World in 2018

"Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration released the 2018 goods export data for the nation's 392 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), highlighting that U.S. metro areas exported a significant $1.5 trillion in merchandise across the world last year. In fact, from 2017 to 2018, exports from MSAs increased $110.3 billion – or 8.1 percent, and 259 metropolitan areas reported positive export growth, with 94 reaching record-level exports.

In 2018, 165 metropolitan areas supported more than $1 billion in merchandise exports; of these, 22 areas reported exports between $10 and $25 billion, and 12 eclipsed the $25 billion threshold. Additionally, 10 metropolitan areas from Texas and 5 metropolitan areas from California are included in the top 50 ranking of metropolitan areas by 2018 export value.

The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land (Texas) metropolitan area topped the rankings with $120.7 billion in goods exports. As in 2017, this metropolitan area also showed the highest annual dollar growth in exports, expanding $25.0 billion from 2017 to 2018. The remaining top five metropolitan areas are: New York-Newark-Jersey City (New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania) with exports of $97.7 billion; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (California) with exports of $64.8 billion; Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue (Washington) with exports of $59.7 billion; and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin) with exports of $47.3 billion..."
Metro area exports

2015 List of Distressed or Underserved Nonmetropolitan Middle-Income Geographies

"The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation today announced the availability of the 2015 list of distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies, where revitalization or stabilization activities will receive Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) consideration as community development.

Distressed nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies and underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies are designated by the agencies in accordance with their CRA regulations.  The criteria for designating these areas are available on the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) website (http://www.ffiec.gov/cra).  The designations continue to reflect local economic conditions, including unemployment, poverty, and population changes..."

Distressed Metropolitan areas

Real Personal Income for States and Metropolitan Areas: 2008-2012

"Real personal income across all regions rose by an average of 2.3% in 2012. This growth rate reflects the year-over-year change in nominal personal income across all regions adjusted by the change in the national PCE price index. On a nominal basis, personal income across all regions grew an average of 4.2% in 2012. In 2012, the U.S. PCE price index grew 1.8%.

Growth in real state personal income from 2011 to 2012 ranged from a decline of 1.2% in South Dakota to an increase of 15.1% in North Dakota. These growth rates reflect the year-over-year change in the state’s nominal personal income, the change in the national PCE price index, and the change in the regional price parity for that state. After North Dakota, the states with the largest growth rates were Montana (3.7%), Indiana (3.7%), California (3.4%), and Mississippi (3.4%). South Dakota was the only state with a decline in real personal income..." Real personal income

Real Personal Income for States and Metropolitan Areas, 2008-2012

 "Today, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released real, price-adjusted estimates of personal income for states and metropolitan areas for 2008-2012...
The price-adjustments are based on regional price parities (RPPs) and on BEA’s national Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index. The RPPs measure geographic differences in the price levels of consumption goods and services relative to the national average, and the PCE price index measures national price changes over time (see Technical Note).."
Personal income; states and metros

More and More Metropolitan America:County and City Population, July 2013

"Many of us now live in one of the biggest of the big metros. Nearly one in seven Americans reside in either the New York, Los Angeles or Chicago areas. And almost one in three live in one of the 10 most populous areas, which include the three just mentioned, plus Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Philadelphia, Washington, Miami, Atlanta and Boston.

The 10 fastest-growing areas are relatively small in size. And virtually all are located either in or near the Great Plains or in or near the Gulf Coast...."
Metropolitan america

Oil and Gas Boom Driving Population Growth in the Great Plains, Census Bureau Estimates Show

"Numerous metropolitan statistical areas, micropolitan statistical areas and counties that were among the fastest-growing last year were located in, or at least near, the Great Plains and West Texas, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates released today.

Midland, Texas, was the fastest-growing metro area over the July 1, 2011, to July 1, 2012, period, with its population increasing 4.6 percent. Adjacent Odessa, Texas, ranked fifth overall, Austin-Round Rock, Texas, was seventh, while two areas in Wyoming (Casper and Cheyenne), along with Manhattan, Kan., and Bismarck, N.D., were also among the 20 fastest-growing metropolitan areas..."
Fastest Growing Metro Areas, July 31, 2011 - July 31, 2012

Metropolitan Transportation Planning
"Federal law requires state and local governments to designate a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) in each urbanized area with a population of 50,000 or more to help plan surface transportation infrastructure and services. There are currently 381 MPOs nationwide. Despite some strengthening of their authority over the years, MPOs have generally remained subordinate to state departments of transportation (DOTs) in the planning and selecting (“programming”) of projects using federal surface transportation funds. Moreover, it can be argued that at the metropolitan level MPOs are subordinate to local governments that own and operate many elements of the transportation system, and also control land use planning and zoning..."

Population Change in Central and Outlying Counties of Metropolitan
Statistical Areas: 2000 to 2007
"This report examines population change and the demographic components of change from 2000 to 2007 for central and outlying counties of metropolitan statistical areas. Population change in metro areas and their component central and outlying counties will be examined through the configurations of census regions and divisions, metro area population size categories, and 12 of the most populous metro areas. Demographic
components of change are births, deaths, and migration. The difference between the birth and death components is termed natural increase, and the migration component can consist of both net international migration and net domestic migration. Data used in this report come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program.

The report focuses on metro areas and the central and outlying counties that
compose the areas—all metro area counties belong to one of these two categories,
as defined by the Office of Management and Budger..."