The population in large urban concentrations in the United States, 1790–1980: A delineation using highly urbanized counties

Abstract

Since at least 1899, when The Growth of Cities in the Nineteenth Century (Weber, 1899) was published, there has been a continuing interest in large urban concentrations in the United States. Despite this interest, there is no historical series on the population in such concentrations (including series based on the metropolitan-area or urbanized-area concept) from 1790 to 1980, the period covered by national censuses of population. A consistent historical series would be useful for the analysis of historical trends and differentials in the wide range of demographic, social, and economic characteristics for which information is available from the decennial census and other sources as well as for the analysis of the causes and effects of large-scale urbanization. This gap in demographic statistics contrasts with the situation for the total urban population. The first official historical series on the urban population was published in conjunction with the 1870 census and showed that the proportion of population living in places of 8,000 or more increased from 3 percent in 1790 to 21 percent in 1870 (Truesdell, 1949:2-3; U.S. Census Office, 1874:5, Progress of the Nation). In general, the minimum size of an urban place was dropped to 4,000 in the 1880 census and to 2,500 prior to the 1910 census. A historical series on the population in places of 2,500 or more by size of place was compiled during the 1930s and was published in the 1940 census. Although the definition of urban has been revised-especially between the 1940 and 1950 censuses, when the urban population was augmented by the creation of urbanized areas and the delineation of unincorporated places (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1983:App. A, pp. 2-3)-this historical series remains central to the study of urbanization in the United States and has been extended at each decennial census. ' The metropolitan population of the United States was first defined systematically by the Bureau of the Census in the 1910 census, when the concept of metropolitan districts was introduced. These were defined as cities of 200,000 or more population and their surrounding minor civil divisions (MCDs), which were within a 10-mile radius and had average densities of 150 or more persons per square mile (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1913a:73-77). Between 1910 and 1940, the metropolitan district definition was broadened to include central cities of 50,000 or more population and surrounding MCDs with 150 or more persons per square mile, regardless of distance from the central city. Metropolitan districts were never fully integrated into census tabulations, however, partly due to the difficulty of compiling data for the large number of component administrative units and the existence of competing metropolitan definitions (Rosenwaike, 1970:323).2 In the 1950 census, standard metropolitan areas (SMAs), which used the county as the reference unit, replaced metropolitan districts. An SMA was defined generally as a county containing at least one city with 50,000 or more population and any