Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts

Springfield Metropolitan Area
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Springfield Metro Center from the Hampden County Memorial Bridge at blue hour
Springfield–Amherst Town–Northampton, MA CSA   Springfield, MA MSA   Amherst Town–Northampton, MA MSA   Greenfield, MA µSA
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
Principal municipalities	Springfield Franklin County Ashfield Bernardston Buckland Charlemont Colrain Conway Deerfield Erving Gill Greenfield Hawley Heath Leverett Leyden Monroe Montague New Salem Northfield Orange Rowe Shelburne Shutesbury Sunderland Warwick Wendell Whately Hampden County Agawam Blandford Brimfield Chester Chicopee East Longmeadow Granville Hampden Holland Holyoke Longmeadow Ludlow Monson Montgomery Palmer Russell Southwick Tolland Wales West Springfield Westfield Wilbraham Hampshire County Amherst Belchertown Chesterfield Cummington Easthampton Goshen Granby Hadley Hatfield Huntington Middlefield Northampton Pelham Plainfield South Hadley Southampton Ware Westhampton Williamsburg Worthington
Area
• Total	1,904 sq mi (4,930 km2)
Population
• Density	367.9/sq mi (142.0/km2)
• MSA (2020)	465,825(117th)
• CSA (2020)	699,162(74th)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern Time Zone)
Area code	413
GDP	$30 billion USD[1]
GDP per capita	$48,505

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 April 1, 2020, the metropolitan area's population was estimated at 699,162, making it the 88th-largest metropolitan area in the United States.^[2]

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.^[2][3] 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.