# How to match ipums usa population counts with other sources by urbanicity? **URL:** \ **Category:** USA\ **Created:** [May 25, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/how-to-match-ipums-usa-population-counts-with-other-sources-by-urbanicity/5301 "2023-05-25T18:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ariadne\_Rivera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ariadne\_Rivera](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Ariadne_Rivera)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/how-to-match-ipums-usa-population-counts-with-other-sources-by-urbanicity/5301/1 "2023-05-25T18:32:48Z")
Hi, I am trying to match national population broken by race/ethnicity, hispanic origin, sex and urbanicity. I am using the metro and met2013 variables with other variables I have at the county level. I have been trying to use the statefip and countyfip variables and metro13 variables to merge with the CBSA Code from the 2013 OMB delineation files available at the census website [https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/demo/metro-micro/delineation-files.html](https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/demo/metro-micro/delineation-files.html) However, there does not seem to be a good match. Is there an specific crosswalk between the metro and met2013 variables with the OMB that I could use? Thanks in advance ---
**Author:** ![Chris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Chris\_B](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Chris_B)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/how-to-match-ipums-usa-population-counts-with-other-sources-by-urbanicity/5301/2 "2023-05-25T23:16:31Z")
Welcome to the IPUMS forums Ariadne! 😀 As I compare the [MET2013](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/MET2013#codes_section) variable to the Feb. 2013 delineation files in your link I see them all matching. There are only 295 CBSAs covered by MET2013, and when I crosswalk them to the Feb. 2013 CBSA delineation file, all 295 match. Perhaps you’re noticing that there aren’t as many CBSAs in the IPUMS sample as there are actual CBSAs (933 per the 02/2013 OMB file you linked)? This is due (at least I believe) to the fact that many CBSAs are small areas (\<100000 pop.) which IPUMS does not report. ---
**Author:** ![JonathanSchroeder](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/jonathanschroeder/32/70_2.png) [@JonathanSchroeder](https://forum.ipums.org/u/JonathanSchroeder)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/how-to-match-ipums-usa-population-counts-with-other-sources-by-urbanicity/5301/3 "2023-05-26T15:26:48Z")
As @Chris_B notes, IPUMS USA isn’t able to identify all metro areas, nor is it able to identify most U.S. counties in any recent microdata samples. I suggest reviewing [this blog post](https://blog.popdata.org/ipums-faqs-missing-u-s-counties/) about county identification in IPUMS USA, and reviewing both the [COUNTYFIP](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/COUNTYFIP#description_section) and [MET2013](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/MET2013#description_section) variable descriptions. You’ll find more info in both places about which counties and metro areas are identifiable in IPUMS USA samples. You may also be interested in the [DENSITY](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/DENSITY#description_section) and [METPOP10](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/METPOP10#description_section) variables, which are [designed to provide two distinct indices of urbanization](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8323948/) for microdata. Alternatively, you can get summary tables of population by race/ethnicity and sex for all U.S. metro areas and counties through [IPUMS NHGIS](https://www.nhgis.org/). ---
**Author:** ![Chris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Chris\_B](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Chris_B)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 3:55pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/how-to-match-ipums-usa-population-counts-with-other-sources-by-urbanicity/5301/4 "2023-05-26T15:55:21Z")
Today, I am learning from Jonathan (in several places): Time to get to work with NHGIS! 😄