To find the total for the MSA, you must sum all the parts from the various states. More information about Metropolitan Statistical Area definitions can be found in the file metarea. In these data cities were chosen that were a central city in a Metropolitan Statistical Area or Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area at the time of the 1990 Census. In each MSA and PMSA, the largest place and, in some cases, additional places are designated as central cities under the offical standards. A few Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas do not have central cities.
Cities can cross county boundaries.
Some cities that cross county boundaries can be found in more than one Metroplitan statistical area. These cities were central cities in 1990 and may not have been central cities in any other years. In all years, the names of the cities were taken from the 1990 files. However, the data are for the Entire city and Not just the part. The file cisplit gives details about the 1990 cities that were split by MSAs.