Micropolitan

The government has created a new label for these communities, which increasingly fill the gaps on the map between major cities. The new term – Micropolitan Statistical Areas – recognizes that even small places far from metro areas are economic hubs that draw workers and shoppers from miles around. […] The largest micropolitan areas have more people than many metro areas. The Torrington, Conn., micropolitan area is the largest, with a population of 183,000 – bigger than the population of 103 metropolitan areas. Torrington is a micro, not a metro, because the central city has fewer than 50,000 people, the threshold for a city anchoring a metro area. Cities at the centers of micropolitan areas have at least 10,000 people but no more than 49,999.

For marketing experts who help companies decide where to expand, the "micropolitans" represent potentially lucrative – and untapped – markets. More than 28 million people, or one in 10 Americans, live in such areas.