# cross-walk between METAREA in CPS and MSA

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/cross-walk-between-metarea-in-cps-and-msa/1558>\
**Category:** CPS\
**Created:** [January 27, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/cross-walk-between-metarea-in-cps-and-msa/1558 "2017-01-27T12:48:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ianhety](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/977dab/32.png) [@Ianhety](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Ianhety)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/cross-walk-between-metarea-in-cps-and-msa/1558/1 "2017-01-27T12:48:00Z")

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Is it possible to transfer METAREA in CPS to MSA or to any other geograpic variable (County etc)?

If yes, is there any existing cross-walk file? Thanks

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**Author:** ![grover](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/grover/32/5_2.png) [@grover](https://forum.ipums.org/u/grover)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/cross-walk-between-metarea-in-cps-and-msa/1558/2 "2017-01-27T21:57:00Z")

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As mentioned in the variable description, the [METAREA](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/variables/metarea#description_section) variable in IPUMS-CPS uses the 1990 Census codes, so you can find the components of these geographies and there codes on the [Census Bureau’s webpage for Metropolitan and Micropolitan historical delineations](https://www.census.gov/population/metro/data/pastmetro.html). IPUMS-CPS also provides the [METFIPS](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/variables/METFIPS#description_section) variable, which gives the FIPS codes for the metropolitan area the household was located in, using the metropolitan delineations contemporary to the survey. As with the METAREA codes, you can find definitions of these geographies on the Metropolitan and Micropolitan historical delineations page.

I hope this helps.