Metropolitan Areas on the Baja California/California Border



Millicent Cox, Ph.D.

Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática, Statistics Canada and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget have similar approaches to defining metropolitan areas. Basically the concept is of a central core containing a concentration of population and its adjacent communities which have a high degree of economic and social integration with the central core. The largest city or "urbanized area" in each metropolitan area is designated the "central city," and it has a population of at least 50,000. The entire county of the largest city is included in the metropolitan area. Outlying counties are including in the metropolitan area if they meet specific requirements of commuting with the central core, population density and urbanization. Consolidated metropolitan areas consist of "primary" metropolitan areas with large central cities and strong economic and social relationships within themseleves and with each other.

Two metropolitan areas are defined on the Baja California/California border following these general conventions:

Naming these metropolitan areas follows the general conventions as well, using the names of up to three central cities and the states (or in this case, countries) into which the metropolitan area extends. There is only one central city of 50,000 or more in the Mexicali Metropolitan Area.

The San Diego US-Tijuana MX Consolidated Metropolitan Area

The San DiegoUS-Tijuana MX Consolidated Metropolitan Area consists of two primary metropolitan areas, the San Diego CA Primary Metropolitan Area (San Diego County) and the Tijuana-Tecate BC Primary Metropolitan Area (Tijuana, Tecate and Playas de Rosarito Municipios). Compared with other metropolitan areas in North America, San Diego US-Tijuana MX would be the thirteenth largest metropolitan area. (See below for a further discussion of the comparisons.)

Table 1: Population of the San Diego US-Tijuana MX
Consolidated Metropolitan Area
1995 Population
San Diego US-Tijuana MX Consolidated Metropolitan Area3,727,531
San Diego CA US Primary Metropolitan Area2,626,714
San Diego County2,626,714
Tijuana-Tecate BC MX Primary Metropolitan Area1,100,817
Tijuana Municipio991,592
Tecate Municipio62,629
Playas de Rosarito Municipio46,596
Source: Conteo de Población y Vivienda 1995 (INEGI) and CO-96-8, Population Estimates Program, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, released March 20, 1997 (utilizing the July 1, 1995 population for the U.S.)

The Mexicali MX-US Metropolitan Area

The Mexicali MX-US Metropolitan Area is one metropolitan area consisting of Mexicali Municipio, Baja California, and Imperial County, California. Imperial County is one of twelve U.S. counties with over 100,000 in population but no central city of 50,000. Imperial County on its own does not meet the requirements to be classified as a metropolitan area. Mexicali Municipio does meet the requirements on its own to be a metropolitan area, although the economic and social links between Mexicali Municipio and Imperial County would suggest that they belong in the same metropolitan area. The Mexicali MX-US Metropolitan Area would be the seventieth largest in North America.

Table 2: Population of the Mexicali MX-US Metropolitan Area
1995 Population
Mexicali MX-US Metropolitan Area837,116
Mexicali Municipio696,034
Imperial County141,082
Source: Conteo de Población y Vivienda 1995 (INEGI) and CO-96-8, Population Estimates Program, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, released March 20, 1997 (utilizing the July 1, 1995 population for the U.S.)

The Largest Metropolitan Regions in North America

Using data from the 1996 Census in Canada, the 1995 Conteo in México, and 1995 population estimates for the U.S., it is possible to compare the relative sizes of metropolitan areas in North America. The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island Consolidated Metropolitan Area (including parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania) is the largest in North America with an estimated 19.7 million people. Ciudad México, which includes the Distrito Federal and parts of the Estado de México, was second with 15.8 million people. On this basis the San Diego US-Tijuana MX Consolidated Metropolitan Area would rank thirteenth and the Mexicali MX-US Metropolitan Area would rank seventieth.

There were fifty-two metropolitan areas with more than one million in population in North America. There were fifty-seven metropolitan areas with at least 500,000 people and no more than 999,999 people. There were eight cross-border metropolitan areas with more than 500,000 people. Six of the cross-border metropolitan areas were on the U.S./México border and three were on the U.S./Canada border. The only cross-border metropolitan area in the largest pairs of cross-border counties on the U.S./México border with less than 500,000 people is the Nuevo Laredo MX-Laredo US CMA, with 445,776 people. In all likelihood an analysis of cross-border metropolitan regions with populations of less than 500,000 people would include a San Luis Rio Colorado MX-Yuma US CMA, with 254,947 people, and a Nogales MX-Santa Cruz US MA, with 169,863 people. These two additional cross-border metropolitan regions would bring the total to eleven.

Table 3: Twenty Largest Metropolitan Areas in North America
RankMetropolitan Area NamePopulation
1New York-No. New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA, US CMA19,732,748
2Ciudad México, D.F.-Estado de México, MX CMA15,853,685
3Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA, US CMA 15,362,165
4Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI, US CMA8,589,913
5Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV, US CMA7,107,116
6San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA, US CMA6,539,602
7Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-DE-MD, US CMA5,967,323
8Boston-Worcester-Lawrence-Lowell-Brockton, MA-NH, US CMA5,768,968
9Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint US-Windsor, Ontario, CA CMA5,558,185
10Dallas-Fort Worth, TX , US CMA4,449,875
11Toronto, Ontario, CA MA4,263,757
12Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX, US CMA4,164,393
13San Diego CA, US-Tijuana, Baja California, MX CMA3,727,531
14Guadalajara, Jalisco, MX MA3,449,608
15Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL , US CMA3,443,501
16Atlanta, GA , US MA3,431,983
17Montréal, Quebec, CA , MAÝ 3,326,510
18Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA, US CMA3,265,139
19Monterrey, Nuevo León, MX MA2,997,800
20Cleveland-Akron, OH CMA2,903,808
Note: CMA stands for consolidated metropolitan area, which is composed of primary metropolitan areas. MA stands for metropolitan area. A metropolitan area can be just one county or county equivalent or it may be several counties. A metropolitan area may extend across state and country boundaries.
Ý Some Canadian Indian populations are not included.
Source: San Diego Dialogue estimates from data published by Statistics Canada, 1996 Census of Population and Housing, Report Catalogue No. 93-357, Conteo de Población y Vivienda 1995 (INEGI), Population Estimates and Population Distribution Branches, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, "Population Estimates for Metropolitan Areas Outside of New England: July 1, 1990 to July 1, 1995" and Population Estimates and Population Distribution Branches, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, "Population Estimates for New England County Metropolitan Areas (NECMAs): July 1, 1990 to July 1, 1995."

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The seventy largest metropolitan areas in North America include the Mexicali MA.

A table of the seventy largest metropolitan areas in North America is available in an acrobat version for downloading.

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Source: The San Diego/Tijuana Economic Review, July 1997. Copyright © The Regents of the University of California, 1997.

The San Diego/Tijuana Economic Review is a joint publication of San Diego Dialogue (Division of Extended Studies and Public Service, University of California, San Diego) and El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (Tijuana).

If you have any comments, please send them directly to the author, Millicent Cox.

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July 1997