New England city and town area

A New England city and town area (NECTA) is a geographic and statistical entity defined by the U.S. federal government for use in the six-state New England region of the United States. NECTAs are analogous to metropolitan statistical areas and micropolitan statistical areas and are defined using the same criteria, except that they are defined on the basis of New England towns instead of entire counties. NECTAs are classified as either metropolitan or micropolitan NECTAs. A micropolitan NECTA has an urban core with a population of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000, whereas a metropolitan NECTA has an urban core with a population of at least 50,000.

In New England, towns (which are classified by the United States Census Bureau as minor civil divisions) are a much more important level of government than counties. Because towns are smaller than counties, a NECTA usually provides a much closer approximation to the real metropolitan area than a metropolitan statistical area does.

Large NECTAs (with population greater than 2.5 million) may be subdivided into smaller groupings known as NECTA Divisions. Adjacent NECTAs that have a high degree of employment interchange may also be combined to form Combined NECTAS (or CNECTAs). NECTAs that are part of a CNECTA retain their separate identities.

List of NECTAs

Table

Metropolitan NECTAs as of 2010 census

Rank NECTA State(s) 2010 Pop 2000 Pop Δ Pop
1 BostonCambridgeQuincy MA-NH 4,703,187 4,503,683 +4.43%
2 ProvidenceFall RiverWarwick RI-MA 1,301,595 1,292,942 +0.67%
3 HartfordWest HartfordEast Hartford CT 1,121,463 1,059,878 +5.81%
4 BridgeportStamfordNorwalk CT 926,465 892,283 +3.83%
5 Springfield MA-CT 683,800 660,837 +3.47%
6 New Haven CT 597,172 571,310 +4.53%
7 Worcester MA-CT 577,537 539,828 +6.99%
8 PortlandSouth PortlandBiddeford ME 357,412 333,624 +7.13%
9 NorwichNew London CT-RI 278,598 265,288 +5.02%
10 Barnstable Town MA 239,675 244,257 -1.88%
11 Waterbury CT 204,451 195,540 +4.56%
12 BurlingtonSouth Burlington VT 198,627 187,105 +6.16%
13 Manchester NH 187,596 176,663 +6.19%
14 New Bedford MA 175,502 170,161 +3.14%
15 Danbury CT 163,260 155,304 +5.12%
16 RochesterDover NH-ME 149,471 135,367 +10.42%
17 LeominsterFitchburgGardner MA 147,818 143,905 +2.72%
18 Bangor ME 135,632 124,906 +8.59%
19 LewistonAuburn ME 106,216 101,778 +4.36%
20 Portsmouth NH-ME 73,274 71,232 +2.87%
21 Pittsfield MA 72,051 73,297 -1.70%

By state as of 2013

The following is a list of metropolitan and micropolitan NECTAs as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. Definitions are as of February 2013.[1]

Connecticut

Maine

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

Rhode Island

Vermont

References

External links

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