Major Metropolitan Areas
The South was heavily rural as late as the 1940s, but now the population is increasingly concentrated in metropolitan areas, including central cities and their suburbs.
| Rank | Metropolitan Statistical Area | State(s) | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington | TX | 6,371,773 |
| 2 | Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown | TX | 5,946,800 |
| 3 | Washington–Arlington–Alexandria | DC–VA– MD–WV |
5,582,170 |
| 4 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach | FL | 5,564,635 |
| 5 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta | GA | 5,268,860 |
| 6 | Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater | FL | 2,783,243 |
| 7 | Baltimore–Towson | MD | 2,710,489 |
| 8 | San Antonio-New Braunfels-Seguin | TX | 2,142,508 |
| 9 | Orlando-Kissimmee | FL | 2,134,411 |
| 10 | Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky* | OH-IN-KY | 2,130,151 |
| 11 | Charlotte–Gastonia–Concord | NC–SC | 1,758,038 |
| 12 | Raleigh-Durham-Cary | NC | 1,749,925 |
| 13 | Austin–Round Rock-San Marcos | TX | 1,716,289 |
| 14 | Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News | VA–NC | 1,671,683 |
| 15 | Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin | TN | 1,589,934 |
| 16 | Jacksonville | FL | 1,345,596 |
| 17 | Memphis-Bartlett-Southaven | TN–MS–AR | 1,316,100 |
| 18 | Louisville–Jefferson County* | KY–IN | 1,307,647 |
| 19 | Richmond | VA | 1,258,251 |
| 20 | Oklahoma City | OK | 1,252,987 |
| 21 | New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner | LA | 1,167,764 |
| 22 | Birmingham–Hoover | AL | 1,128,047 |
| 23 | Tulsa | OK | 937,478 |
| 24 | Baton Rouge | LA | 802,484 |
| 25 | El Paso | TX | 800,647 |
* Asterisk indicates part of the metropolitan area is outside the states classified as Southern.
Read more about this topic: Southern United States
Famous quotes containing the words major, metropolitan and/or areas:
“In the larger view the major forces of the depression now lie outside of the United States, and our recuperation has been retarded by the unwarranted degree of fear and apprehension created by these outside forces.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
“In metropolitan cases, the love of the most single-eyed lover, almost invariably, is nothing more than the ultimate settling of innumerable wandering glances upon some one specific object.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“... two great areas of deafness existed in the South: White Southerners had no ears to hear that which threatened their Dream. And colored Southerners had none to hear that which could reduce their anger.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 1, ch. 16 (1962)