# Metropolitan status in 2014 ATUS

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/metropolitan-status-in-2014-atus/1146>\
**Category:** TIME USE\
**Created:** [December 12, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/metropolitan-status-in-2014-atus/1146 "2015-12-12T22:39:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gray](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/gray/32/209_2.png) [@Gray](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Gray)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/metropolitan-status-in-2014-atus/1146/1 "2015-12-12T22:39:00Z")

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I see that the 2014 ATUS-X does not contain values for METRO, MSASIZE, or METAREA. I am most interested in METAREA, to normalize some analyses that I am performing across the country. There isn’t any mention in the variable descriptions as to why the variables aren’t included in 2014. Will these variables not be available going forward?

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**Author:** ![Erin\_Meyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Erin\_Meyer](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Erin_Meyer)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/metropolitan-status-in-2014-atus/1146/2 "2015-12-16T20:36:00Z")

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Cities cannot be identified in CPS data; however it is possible to identify certain large metropolitan areas with the variable [METAREA](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/variables/metarea#codes_section). If you are using a statistical package like Stata, you can find hourly wage information for New York City with syntax similar to “tabulate hourwage if metarea == 5606.” If you are using the online analysis tool, enter hourwage into “row,” and filter by metarea(5606) and your years of interest.

Something to note is that [HOURWAGE](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/variables/hourwage#codes_section) is one of the variables in the [Outgoing Rotation Group/Earner Study](https://cps.ipums.org/cps/outgoing_rotation_notes.shtml). Participants of this study are those who meet all of the following criteria: [AGE](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/variables/AGE#codes_section)=15+, [EMPSTAT](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/variables/EMPSTAT#codes_section)=10-12, [CLASSWKR](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/variables/CLASSWKR#codes_section)=20-28, and [MISH](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/variables/MISH#codes_section)=4 or 8. This results in greatly reduced sample sizes, especially when the scope is limited to a particular metropolitan area, so I suggest checking raw frequencies before adding the [EARNWT](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/variables/earnwt#codes_section)weight.

![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/ipums/original/1X/2daeaa8b5f19f0bc209d976c02bd6acb51b00b0a.gif)

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**Author:** ![Tim\_Moreland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@Tim\_Moreland](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Tim_Moreland)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/metropolitan-status-in-2014-atus/1146/3 "2015-12-16T22:13:00Z")

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We plan to release these metro area variables for the 2014 ATUS sample next week.

Hope this helps.