A New England City and Town Area or NECTA is a geographic and statistical entity defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, for use in describing aspects of the New England region of the United States. A NECTA is a region associated with a core urban area with a population of at least 10,000, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting and employment. NECTAs are analogous to Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) and are similarly classified as either metropolitan NECTAs (corresponding to Metropolitan Statistical Areas) or micropolitan NECTAs (corresponding to Micropolitan Statistical Areas). A micropolitan NECTA has an urban core with a population of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000 while a metropolitan NECTA has an urban core with a population of at least 50,000.
The principal difference between a CBSA and a NECTA is that NECTAs use New England towns as building blocks instead of counties. In the New England region, towns (which are classified by the United States Census Bureau as minor civil divisions) are a much more important level of government than counties. Because of the smaller geographic size of towns compared to counties, NECTAs are usually a much closer approximation to metropolitan areas in New England than metropolitan statistical areas.
Large NECTAs (with population greater than 2.5 million) may be subdivided into smaller groupings known as NECTA Divisions. Adjacent NECTAs that have a high degree of employment interchange may also be combined to form Combined NECTAS (or CNECTAs). NECTAs that are part of a CNECTA retain their separate identities.
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| Rank | NECTA | State(s) | 2007 Pop | 2000 Pop | Δ Pop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston–Cambridge–Quincy | MA-NH | 4,597,610 | 4,503,683 | +2.09% |
| 2 | Providence–Fall River–Warwick | RI-MA | 1,307,162 | 1,292,942 | +1.10% |
| 3 | Hartford–West Hartford–East Hartford | CT | 1,098,301 | 1,059,878 | +3.63% |
| 4 | Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk | CT | 906,727 | 892,283 | +1.62% |
| 5 | Springfield | MA-CT | 666,917 | 660,837 | +0.92% |
| 6 | New Haven | CT | 583,447 | 571,310 | +2.12% |
| 7 | Worcester | MA-CT | 563,777 | 539,828 | +4.44% |
| 8 | Portland–South Portland–Biddeford | ME | 350,825 | 333,624 | +5.16% |
| 9 | Norwich–New London | CT-RI | 273,035 | 265,288 | +2.92% |
| 10 | Barnstable Town | MA | 245,156 | 244,257 | +0.37% |
| 11 | Waterbury | CT | 199,935 | 195,540 | +2.25% |
| 12 | Burlington–South Burlington | VT | 194,354 | 187,105 | +3.87% |
| 13 | Manchester | NH | 187,398 | 176,663 | +6.08% |
| 14 | New Bedford | MA | 170,341 | 170,161 | +0.11% |
| 15 | Danbury | CT | 162,686 | 155,304 | +4.75% |
| 16 | Leominster–Fitchburg–Gardner | MA | 147,515 | 143,905 | +2.51% |
| 17 | Rochester–Dover | NH-ME | 147,422 | 135,367 | +8.91% |
| 18 | Bangor | ME | 129,263 | 124,906 | +3.49% |
| 19 | Lewiston–Auburn | ME | 104,505 | 101,778 | +2.68% |
| 20 | Portsmouth | NH-ME | 73,767 | 71,232 | +3.67% |
| 21 | Pittsfield | MA | 70,425 | 73,297 | -3.92% |
The following is a list of metropolitan and micropolitan NECTAs as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. Definitions are as of December 2005.