Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home Crime in the U.S. 2011 Crime in the U.S. 2011 Area Definitions

Area Definitions

Download Printable Document

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program collects crime data and supplemental information that make it possible to generate a variety of statistical compilations, including data presented by reporting areas.  These statistics provide data users with the opportunity to analyze local crime data in conjunction with data for areas of similar geographic location or population size.  The reporting areas that the UCR Program uses in its data breakdowns include community types, population groups, and regions and geographic divisions.  For community types, the UCR Program considers proximity to metropolitan areas using the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) designations.  (Generally, sheriffs, county police, and state police report crimes within counties but outside cities; local police report crimes within city limits.)  The number of inhabitants living in a locale (based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s figures) determines the population group into which the program places it.  Finally, in its geographic breakdowns, the UCR Program divides the United States into regions and divisions.

Community types

In order to assist data users who wish to analyze and present uniform statistical data about metropolitan areas, the UCR Program uses reporting units that represent major population centers.  The program compiles data for these areas according to three types of communities:

1.  Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)—Each MSA contains a principal city or urbanized area with a population of at least 50,000 inhabitants.  MSAs include the principal city; the county in which the city is located; and other adjacent counties that have, as defined by the OMB, a high degree of economic and social integration with the principal city and county as measured through commuting.  In the UCR Program, counties within an MSA are considered metropolitan.  In addition, MSAs may cross state boundaries.

In 2011, approximately 83.5 percent of the nation’s population lived in MSAs.  Some presentations in this publication refer to Metropolitan Divisions, which are subdivisions of an MSA that consists of a core with “a population of at least 2.5 million persons.  A Metropolitan Division consists of one or more main/secondary counties that represent an employment center or centers, plus adjacent counties associated with the main county or counties through commuting ties,” (Federal Register 65 [249]).  Also, some tables reference suburban areas, which are subdivisions of MSAs that exclude the principal cities but include all the remaining cities (those having fewer than 50,000 inhabitants) and the unincorporated areas of the MSAs. 

Note:  Because the elements that comprise MSAs (particularly the geographic compositions) are subject to change, the program discourages data users from making year-to-year comparisons of MSA data.

2.  Cities Outside MSAs—Ordinarily, cities outside MSAs are incorporated areas.  In 2011, cities outside MSAs made up 6.6 percent of the nation’s population.

3.  Nonmetropolitan Counties Outside MSAs—Most nonmetropolitan counties are composed of unincorporated areas.  In 2011, 9.9 percent of the nation’s population resided in nonmetropolitan counties.

Community types are further illustrated in the following table:

Metropolitan

Nonmetropolitan

Principal Cities                       (50,000+ inhabitants)

Cities outside Metropolitan Areas

Suburban Cities

Metropolitan Counties

Nonmetropolitan Counties


Population groups

The UCR Program uses the following population group designations:

Population Group

Political Label

Population Range

I

City

250,000 and more

II

City

100,000 to 249,999

III

City

50,000 to 99,999

IV

City

25,000 to 49,999

V

City

10,000 to 24,999

VI1, 2

City

Less than 10,000

VIII (Nonmetropolitan County) 2

County

N/A

IX (Metropolitan County) 2

County

N/A

1Includes universities and colleges to which no population is attributed.
2Includes state police to which no population is attributed.

Individual law enforcement agencies are the source of UCR data.  The number of agencies included in each population group may vary from year to year because of population growth, geopolitical consolidation, municipal incorporation, etc.  In noncensus years, the UCR Program estimates population figures for individual jurisdictions.  (A more comprehensive explanation of population estimations can be found in the Methodology.)

The table below shows the number of agencies contributing to the UCR Program within each population group for 2011:

 

Population Group

Number of Agencies

Population Covered

I

75

56,398,148

II

209

31,323,512

III

473

32,816,692

IV

888

30,762,527

V

1,929

30,586,844

VI1, 2

9,499

26,669,678

VIII (Nonmetropolitan County)2

3,049

30,821,138

IX (Metropolitan County)2

2,111

72,213,378

Total

18,233

311,591,917

1Includes universities and colleges to which no population is attributed.
2Includes state police to which no population is attributed.

Regions and divisions

The map below illustrates the four regions of the United States along with their nine geographic divisions as established by the U.S. Census Bureau.  The UCR Program uses this widely recognized geographic organization when compiling the nation’s crime data.  The following table lists the 50 states and the District of Columbia arranged according to the regions and geographic divisions of the United States.

2011 Regional Map

NORTHEASTERN STATES

New England

Middle Atlantic

Connecticut

New Jersey

Maine

New York

Massachusetts

Pennsylvania

New Hampshire

 

Rhode Island

 

Vermont

 

MIDWESTERN STATES

East North Central

West North Central

Illinois

Iowa

Indiana

Kansas

Michigan

Minnesota

Ohio

Missouri

Wisconsin

Nebraska

 

North Dakota

 

South Dakota

 

SOUTHERN STATES

South Atlantic

East South Central

Delaware

Alabama

District of Columbia

Kentucky

Florida

Mississippi

Georgia

Tennessee

Maryland

West South Central

North Carolina

Arkansas

South Carolina

Louisiana

Virginia

Oklahoma

West Virginia

Texas

 

WESTERN STATES

Mountain

Pacific

Arizona

Alaska

Colorado

California

Idaho

Hawaii

Montana

Oregon

Nevada

Washington

New Mexico

 

Utah

 

Wyoming