Are metro areas are fully identified/sampled in the CPS data set? I’m wondering specifically for the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) metro area, whether the counties in WI are included.
Yes, a metropolitan area consists of a large population center and adjacent communities that have a high degree of economic and social interaction and metropolitan areas often cross state lines. In general, metropolitan areas are fully identified unless geographic identification would have violated confidentiality requirements. A note of caution from the Census Bureau: Although estiamtes for the larger areas such as New York, Los Angeles, and so forth, should be fairly accurate and valid for a multitude of uses, estimates for the smaller metropolitian areas (those with populations under 500,000) should be used with caution because of the relatively large sampling variablility associated with these estimates.