Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts

The Springfield metropolitan area, also known as Greater Springfield, is a region that is socio-economically and culturally tied to the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines the Springfield, MA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as consisting of three counties in Western Massachusetts. As of 2023, the metropolitan area's population was estimated at 460,291, making it the 117th-largest metropolitan area in the United States.

Historically, the census has also identified the region as "Springfield–Holyoke, Mass.–Conn." as those cities were the area's population centers as recently as 1980; since that time the population has become further distributed, including new growth in Amherst, Westfield, and West Springfield, and Northern Connecticut. Greater Springfield is one of two combined statistical areas in Massachusetts; the other is Greater Boston.

An alternative system of measuring New England metropolitan areas was developed, called the New England city and town area (NECTA) because, in New England, towns are a much more important level of government than counties. County government in New England is weak at best, and in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and most of Massachusetts, does not exist at all. In addition, major cities and surrounding towns are often much smaller in land area than in other parts of the United States. For example, Springfield is 33.2 sq. miles, whereas Fort Worth, Texas, is 298.9 sq. miles, nearly 10 times larger in land area than Springfield.

Because of the sizable discrepancy in land area, New England cities like Springfield feature much higher population densities. In addition, New England cities and towns have developed allegiances that transcend state borders; cities in Connecticut are included in Springfield's NECTA. This system is thought to better approximate New England's metropolitan areas because it uses New England's geographically smaller building blocks. In Springfield's case, its NECTA consists of 51 additional cities and towns surrounding the city.

Component counties of the MSA

County	2021 Estimate	2020 Census	Change	Area	Density
Hampden County	462,718	465,825	−0.67%	617.14 sq mi (1,598.4 km)	508/sq mi (196/km)
Hampshire County	161,572	162,308	−0.45%	527.26 sq mi (1,365.6 km)	450/sq mi (174/km)
Franklin County	71,015	71,029	−0.02%	699.32 sq mi (1,811.2 km)	229/sq mi (88/km)
Total	695,305	699,162	−0.55%	1,843.72 sq mi (4,775.2 km)	377/sq mi (146/km)

Component cities/towns of the NECTA

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 692,942 people, 269,091 households, and 168,758 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 81.10% White, 6.7% African American, 0.30% Native American, 2.5% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 6.6% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.4% of the population.

As of the census of 2000, there were 680,014 people, 260,745 households, and 167,924 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 83.50% White, 5.96% African American, 0.25% Native American, 1.74% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 6.35% from other races, and 2.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.15% of the population. In the 2010 census, the metropolitan area had the highest percentage of Puerto Ricans of any metropolitan statistical area in the continental United States.

The median income for a household in the MSA was $42,195, and the median income for a family was $52,551. Males had a median income of $37,784 versus $28,404 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $20,633.

The median age for the MSA was 38.9 in 2010 overall, with a median age of 37.4 for males and 40.1 for females. The estimated median age in 2017 was 38.2 overall with a median age 36.6 for males and 39.6 for females. Among the 100 most populous MSAs in the United States, the Springfield metropolitan area had the 10th highest life expectancy in 2016 for the top quartile of income earners, adjusted for race and ethnicity, with an overall life expectancy of 87.2.

Transportation

Further information: Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, Hartford Line, and Valley Flyer

The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) is the primary operator of public transportation services in the Springfield Metropolitan Area. Headquartered in Springfield, the PVTA maintains a fleet of approximately 174 buses, 144 vans, and "is the largest regional transit authority in Massachusetts." Founded in 1974 with the enactment of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 161B, the PVTA serves 24 member communities in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties. Each member community pays an assessment fee to the PVTA based "on the number of miles served in that city or town." Alternative sources of revenue mostly originate from federal and state governments. The PVTA itself is governed by an advisory board.

Media

The Springfield metropolitan area is tabulated by Nielsen as the Springfield-Holyoke designated market area, and is the 111th largest television market in the United States, with viewership comparable to Tallahassee and Fort Wayne. The area's local news is characterized by 2 operations, the local NBC affiliate WWLP 22, and the consolidated WesternMassNews, representing CBS affiliate WSHM 3, joint ABC affiliate and FOX affiliate WGGB. In 2019 local NPR affiliate WFCR and PBS WGBY merged operations to form New England Public Media.

References

"Total Gross Domestic Product for Springfield, MA (MSA)". Federal Reserve Economic Data. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015 - United States -- Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area; and for Puerto Rico". 2015 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
1980 Census of Population and Housing: Springfield–Chicopee–Holyoke, Mass.–Conn. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of the Census, US Dept. of Commerce. 1983.
^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
"Table DEC_10_SF1_SF1DP1". American Factfinder. United States Census. Archived from the original on 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
"Table ACS_17_5YR_B01002". American Factfinder. United States Census. Archived from the original on 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
Chetty, Raj; Stepner, Michael; Abraham, Sarah; Lin, Shelby; Scuderi, Benjamin; Turner, Nicholas; Bergeron, Augustin; Cutler, David (2016). "The Association Between Income and Life Expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014". Journal of the American Medical Association. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.4226. PMC 4866586.
^ About the PVTA Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts Transit Authority. Pvta.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-15.
"2020 Designated Market Area Rankings" (PDF). Nielsen Company. September 28, 2019.
Kelly, Ray (April 17, 2015). "CBS 3, ABC 40 and FOX 6 unite as Western Mass News". The Republican. Springfield, Mass. – via MassLive.

v t e Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Boston (capital)
Topics	Index Administrative divisions Congressional districts Elections Geography Geology Government History Images Law Lighthouses Music People State symbols Transportation Villages Tourist attractions Windmills
Society	Abortion Culture Climate change Crime Demographics Economy Education History of education Gun laws Homelessness LGBT rights Politics Sports
Regions	Cape Ann Central Massachusetts (Blackstone Valley, Montachusett-North County, South County) Greater Boston Greater Lowell Merrimack Valley MetroWest North Shore Southeastern Massachusetts (Cape Cod, South Coast, South Shore) Western Massachusetts (The Berkshires, Housatonic Valley, Pioneer Valley, Quabbin-Swift River Valley)
Counties	Barnstable Berkshire Bristol Dukes Essex Franklin Hampden Hampshire Middlesex Nantucket Norfolk Plymouth Suffolk Worcester Note: Nine former counties were in the District of Maine
Cities	Agawam Amherst Amesbury Attleboro Barnstable Beverly Boston Braintree Bridgewater Brockton Cambridge Chelsea Chicopee East Longmeadow Easthampton Everett Fall River Fitchburg Framingham Franklin Gardner Gloucester Greenfield Haverhill Holyoke Lawrence Leominster Lowell Lynn Malden Marlborough Medford Melrose Methuen New Bedford Newburyport Newton North Adams Northampton Palmer Peabody Pittsfield Quincy Randolph Revere Salem Somerville Southbridge Springfield Taunton Waltham Watertown Westfield West Springfield Weymouth Winthrop Woburn Worcester Note: Municipalities not listed have a town meeting form of government (see all municipalities)
Massachusetts portal

Northeast megalopolis major urban regions

Core cities are metropolitan core cities of at least a million people. The other areas are urban areas of cities that have an urban area of 150,000+ or of a metropolitan area of at least 250,000+. Satellite cities are in italics.

Mid-Atlantic

Core cities	Baltimore city Delaware Valley Philadelphia Camden Wilmington Hampton Roads Virginia Beach Norfolk Newport News New York city Newark Jersey City Paterson Elizabeth Richmond city Washington city Arlington Alexandria
Other areas	Atlantic City Hagerstown city Harrisburg city Lancaster Lehigh Valley Allentown–Bethlehem-Easton Northeastern Pennsylvania Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Poughkeepsie–Newburgh city 1 city 2 Reading Salisbury city Trenton York
Combined areas	Washington–Baltimore

New England

Core cities	Boston city Cambridge Hartford city Providence city
Other areas	Barnstable Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk city 1 city 2 city 3 Danbury city Manchester Nashua New Bedford New Haven city Norwich–New London Portland city Springfield city Waterbury Worcester
Combined areas	Boston–Providence Bridgeport–Stamford–New Haven Hartford–Springfield

Other megaregions

Categories:

Misplaced Pages