What does this indicator measure?

This indicator is a measure of the population in select upstate Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA’s) in 2009.  The MSA’s represented here are Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.  These MSA’s were selected because of their similar size and geographic factors to Syracuse.

Please Note:

An MSA is defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a geographic entity that contains a core urban area population of 50,000 or more and includes the county where the core area is located and may include adjacent counties that have a high degree of societal and economic integration with that urban core. The Syracuse MSA is a 3,083 square-mile area which has consisted of Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties since 2003.  From 1999 to 2003 the MSA also included Cayuga County.