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:
“That is my major preoccupation—memory, the kingdom of memory. I want to protect and enrich that kingdom, glorify that kingdom and serve it.”
—Elie Wiesel (b. 1928)
“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)
“The discovery of the North Pole is one of those realities which could not be avoided. It is the wages which human perseverance pays itself when it thinks that something is taking too long. The world needed a discoverer of the North Pole, and in all areas of social activity, merit was less important here than opportunity.”
—Karl Kraus (1874–1936)