The Waco Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has expanded to include Bosque County, Falls County and McLennan County. Waco remains the principal city for the MSA.
According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 23-01, the delineations of Metropolitan Statistical areas have been revised. The revisions took effect on July 21, 2023.
Metropolitan Statistical Areas have at least one urban area of 50,000 or more population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties. Micropolitan Statistical Areas have at least one urban area of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000 population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties. Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas are delineated in terms of whole counties or county equivalents. If specified criteria are met1, a Metropolitan Statistical Area containing a single core with a population of 2.5 million or more may be subdivided to form smaller groupings of counties referred to as Metropolitan Divisions.
The classification includes about 94.6 percent of the U.S. population – about 86.2 percent in Metropolitan Statistical Areas and about 8.4 percent in Micropolitan Statistical Areas.
Of 3,144 counties in the United States, 1,186 are in the 387 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and 658 counties are in the 538 Micropolitan Statistical Areas (1,300 counties are outside the classification).
This classification is intended to provide nationally consistent delineations for collecting, tabulating, and publishing Federal statistics for a set of geographic areas.