Description

PWMET13 identifies the metropolitan area where the respondent worked if the respondent's workplace was in an identifiable metropolitan area.

A metropolitan area, or metro area, is a region consisting of a large urban core together with surrounding communities that have a high degree of economic and social integration with the urban core.

PWMET13 identifies metro areas using the 2013 definitions for metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The 2013 MSAs are the first to be based on 2010 standards and 2010 census data.

Note that the 00000 code applies to individuals who lived in the same residence 1 year ago as well as those whose previous residence was not in an identifiable metro area. Users who wish to distinguish these two conditions should use MIGRATE1 in conjunction with PWMET13.

Inexact Correspondence with Official Delineations
IPUMS determines PWMET13 codes based on Place-of-Work PUMAs (PWPUMA00), which are the only sub-state geographic units identified in the source PUMS data for place of work.

Because Place-of-Work PUMAs occasionally straddle official MSA boundaries, PWMET13 cannot identify the exact set of respondents who worked in each metro area.

The protocol IPUMS uses for PWMET13 is to identify the MSA in which the majority of each Place-of-Work PUMA's population resided. If PWMET13 identifies a metro area for a given respondent, it indicates that, for the Place-of-Work PUMA where the respondent worked, a majority of the 2010 population resided in the identified metro area.

Match Errors and Code Suppression
PWMET13's code assignment protocol yields errors of omission (workers in a metro area who are not identified as workers there) and errors of commission (respondents identified as working in a metro area who worked elsewhere). Place-of-Work PUMAs often nest within MSA boundaries, resulting in small match errors. For many metro areas, however, especially smaller metro areas, the Place-of-Work PUMAs are a poor match.

As an index of mismatch, IPUMS uses the sum of percent population omission error (the portion of an MSA's population residing in excluded Place-of-Work PUMAs) and percent population commission error (the portion of the population in associated Place-of-Work PUMAs that did not reside in the MSA).

PWMET13 reports no code for MSAs where the sum of match errors is 15% or more.

For each reported PWMET13 code, the PWMET13ERR variable identifies the level of the sum of errors. Researchers may use PWMET13ERR to impose a more restrictive error limit if desired.

To compute match errors, IPUMS uses 2010 populations for all ACS and PRCS samples. For samples that use 2000 Place-of-Work PUMA definitions (2000 samples and ACS and PRCS samples through 2011), IPUMS estimates the populations of the areas of intersection between 2000 Place-of-Work PUMAs and 2013 MSAs by summing the populations of census blocks that had their geographic center in each area.

The actual omission and commission errors for workers of a metropolitan area may differ substantially from the errors based on residents. IPUMS uses resident counts to compute mismatches because worker counts are not available for small areas, as needed to compute counts for all intersections between Place-of-Work PUMAs and MSAs.

For more detailed information about relationships between Place-of-Work PUMAs and MSAs and about PWMET13 match errors, IPUMS provides these tables (in Excel spreadsheets):

2000 5% sample:

• Crosswalk Between 2013 MSAs and 2000 Place-of-Work PUMAs

• PWMET13 Omission and Commission Errors by MSA, 2000

• Crosswalk Between 2013 MSAs and 2000 Place-of-Work PUMAs

• PWMET13 Omission and Commission Errors by MSA, 2005-2011

• Crosswalk Between 2013 MSAs and 2010 Migration (and Place of Work) PUMAs

• MIGMET131 (and PWMET13) Omission and Commission Errors by MSA, 2012-2021

• 2010 Migration PUMAs are identical to 2010 Place of Work PUMAs, so these reference files pertain to both MIGMET131 and PWMET13 for 2012-2021 samples

• Crosswalk Between 2013 MSAs and 2020 Migration (and Place of Work) PUMAs

• MIGMET131 (and PWMET13) Omission and Commission Errors by MSA, 2022-forward

• 2020 Place of Work PUMAs PUMAs are identical to 2020 Migration PUMAs, so these reference files pertain to both PWMET13and MIGMET131 for 2022 and later samples

Comparability

PWMET13 is available only for 2000 and later samples. Another variable, PWMETRO, also identifies the place-of-work metro area for 2011 and earlier samples.

PWMET13 differs from PWMETRO in several ways:

• Delineation base year: PWMETRO uses different metro area delineations for different samples, generally following the delineations in use at the time of each decennial census and following the 1999 OMB delineations for all ACS and PRCS samples through 2011. PWMET13 uses only the 2013 OMB delineations.
• County basis: For samples from 1950 through 2011, PWMETRO uses OMB delineations that are county-based, defining each metro area as a set of one or more contiguous counties, except in New England, where each metro area is defined as a set of cities or towns. The 2013 delineations used by PWMET13 are instead entirely county-based, even in New England.
• Code scheme: PWMETRO uses 4-digit codes based on 1990 and 1999 OMB codes, but with several adjustments to reflect historical hierarchical relationships among metro areas. PWMET13 instead uses the 5-digit 2013 OMB codes with no adjustments, making it easier to associate PWMET13 codes with data from other sources where the OMB codes are used.
• Representativeness: PWMETRO identify metro areas only for previous residents of areas that lie entirely within a single metro area, which prevents errors of commission (all respondents identified as workers in a metro area do in fact work there), but it puts no limit on errors of omission (sizable portions of many metro areas' workers are not identified by PWMETRO). The PWMET13 variables instead use a majority-assignment protocol that aims to maximize representativeness. PWMET13 also suppresses codes for areas where the sum of omission and commission errors is 15% or more.
• Error reporting: IPUMS does not at this time supply a summary of the omission errors in PWMETRO identifications. For the PWMET13 variables, IPUMS supplies a separate variable, PWMET13ERR, that indicates the combined omission and commission error by metro area.

Universe

Availability

• 2023: All samples
• 2022: All samples
• 2021: All samples
• 2020: All samples
• 2019: All samples
• 2018: All samples
• 2017: All samples
• 2016: All samples
• 2015: All samples
• 2014: All samples
• 2013: All samples
• 2012: All samples
• 2011: All samples
• 2010: ACS; ACS 3yr; ACS 5yr
• 2009: All samples
• 2008: All samples
• 2007: All samples
• 2006: All samples
• 2005: All samples
• 2004: --
• 2003: --
• 2002: --
• 2001: --
• 2000: 5%; 1% unwt
• 1990: --
• 1980: --
• 1970: --
• 1960: --
• 1950: --
• 1940: --
• 1930: --
• 1920: --
• 1910: --
• 1900: --
• 1880: --
• 1870: --
• 1860: --
• 1850: --

• 2023: All samples
• 2022: All samples
• 2021: All samples
• 2020: All samples
• 2019: All samples
• 2018: All samples
• 2017: All samples
• 2016: All samples
• 2015: All samples
• 2014: All samples
• 2013: All samples
• 2012: All samples
• 2011: All samples
• 2010: PRCS; PRCS 3yr; PRCS 5yr
• 2009: All samples
• 2008: All samples
• 2007: All samples
• 2006: All samples
• 2005: All samples
• 2000: PR 5%
• 1990: --
• 1980: --
• 1970: --
• 1930: --
• 1920: --
• 1910: --

Flags

Editing Procedure

There is no editing procedure available for this variable.