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Geographic Definitions/Statistical Areas

You will see references to these statistical areas throughout Metro Dataline.

Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Through the 2000 census, this area was composed of 11 counties:

• Cass County, Mo.
• Clay County, Mo.
• Clinton County, Mo.
• Jackson County, Mo.
• Johnson County, Kan.
• Lafayette County, Mo.
• Leavenworth County, Kan.
• Miami County, Kan.
• Platte County, Mo.
• Ray County, Mo.
• Wyandotte County, Mo.

In June 2003, the US Office of Management and Budget added the following counties:

• Bates County, Mo.
• Caldwell County, Mo.
• Franklin County, Kan.
• Linn County, Kan.

• PDF map of Kansas City, MO-KS, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City Combined Statistical Area (CSA)

In February 2004, Atchison County, Kan., and Johnson County, Mo., were added to the 15 counties in the MSA to form the new 17-county Combined Statistical Area (CSA).

• PDF map of Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City Combined Statistical Area

 

 

 

 

Douglas County

Douglas County in Kansas, although not a part of the MSA or the CSA, is often included because of its cultural and economic ties to the region.

MARC Region

MARC functions as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for greater Kansas City. The planning boundary does not extend to the entire MARC region and several MARC member counties are only partially within this boundary, so separate or overlay maps and data sets are often created for this area.

The Mid-America Regional Council is composed of nine counties and 119 cities and towns in the Kansas City region. 

Not all the counties in the MSA, or CSA, nor Douglas County are MARC members. However, we include their maps and data because many researchers and planners have an interest in the entire region.

Peer Metros

Starting with data sets updated in May 2006, information about "peer" metros is often included.

The "Peer Metros" are areas drawn from cluster analysis by the Brookings Institution for CEOs for Cities.  The original peer metros identified by Brookings are:  Denver, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Salt Lake City.  Brookings also suggested including Austin as a metro that is in a cluster performing higher than Kansas City’s, and St. Louis as an example of a metro performing in a cluster lower than Kansas City’s.  In addition, depending on data availability or to provide clearer upper and lower bounds to the data, we also include Dallas as an example of a larger metro with no land constraints and Portland as an example of a metro making a concerted effort to create a more compact urban form. 

More recently, Columbus, Durham, Raleigh (formerly Raleigh-Durham MSA) and San Antonio were identified by MARC Research Services and other organizations as metropolitan areas that also share some characteristics with Kansas City. Those areas are being added to the Peer Metro data sets.

Comparing these characteristics will enable us to better measure our progress.