I have noticed that the names of certain MSAs differ between METAREA and MIGMET1. Some examples include “Chicago, IL” vs. “Chicago-Gary-Lake, IL” and “Boston, MA/NH” vs. “Boston, MA”. From the variable descriptions it seems that there should be no difference between the labels of these two variables, certainly for ACS samples through 2011. Can I assume that they refer to the same MSAs?
Second, I asked a follow-up question here about the N/A code in MIGMET1, but I am not sure if that was the right place to ask. There it was said that MIGMET1==0 “N/A” identifies people who were outside of the question universe. However, there are around 4000 respondents each year for which the following condition is true: currently living in an identifiable METAREA AND MIGMET1 == “N/A” AND MIGRATE1 == “moved within state, within PUMA”. Do MSA boundaries frequently cross PUMAs?
Thank you for your help.