The Tallahassee metropolitan area is the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

centered on Tallahassee, the capital of the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, in Leon County. It is located in the center of

North Florida North Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regi ...

in the

Florida panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...

. The Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) designated by the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

and used by the Census Bureau and other agencies for statistical purposes. The Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of the following four Florida counties: Leon, Gadsden, Wakulla, and Jefferson. The Tallahassee—Bainbridge, FL-GA Combined Statistical Area is a combined statistical area (CSA) is a primary statistical area that includes the Tallahassee, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Bainbridge, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area ( μSA), which consists solely of the Georgia county of Decatur. Additionally, the Thomasville, GA μSA is immediately adjacent to the Tallahassee MSA to the northeast. The distance and driving time between the Thomasville and Tallahassee city centers during commuting hours is both five miles and 5-10 minutes shorter than those between the Bainbridge and Tallahassee city centers. *''denotes principal city in the MSA''

History

The Tallahassee Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area was first defined in 1965, and at that time included only Leon County. Wakulla County was added to the MSA in 1973. In 1983, Wakulla County was removed from the MSA and Gadsden County was added. Jefferson County and Wakulla County (for the second time) were added to the MSA in 2003.

Geography

The counties of the Tallahassee Metropolitan Area cover an area of around 2,604 sq mi (6,750 km²), of which around 2,390 sq mi (6,1890 km²) is land. Much of that water area is in Wakulla and Jefferson counties along the coastline of

Apalachee Bay Apalachee Bay is a bay in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico occupying an indentation of the Florida coast to the west of where the Florida peninsula joins the United States mainland. It is bordered by Taylor, Jefferson, Wakulla, and Franklin ...

. Only 141.33 sq mi (366.04 km²), or 5.92%, of the area is urbanized, with nearly 80% of said urban area belonging to the Tallahassee, FL

Urban Area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

. Greater Tallahassee straddles the boundaries of the Red Hills Region, the Cody Scarp, and the Woodville Karst Plain. As such, the northern half of the metropolitan area, including much of the city of Tallahassee, is substantially more hilly than the rest of the state of Florida. The area also straddles four watersheds, from west to east: Apalachicola, Ochlockonee, St. Marks, and Aucilla. The latter three all drain into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

either within or at the edges of the metropolitan area, with the Ocholockonee and Aucilla Rivers forming parts of the western and eastern borders. ''Also see Leon County Geology'' All counties in both the Tallahassee MSA and CSA are in

Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 U.S. states, states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five ...

, with the western border of Gadsden County with Jackson County forming the boundary with the

Central Time Zone The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It ...

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 320,304 people, 125,533 households, and 75,306 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 63.59%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 32.17%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, and 1.39% from two or more races. 3.72% were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. The median income for a household in the MSA was $34,728, and the median income for a family was $42,957. Males had a median income of $29,628 versus $24,977 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the MSA was $17,552.

Places of Interest

''Also see Tallahassee Places of interest and Arts and Culture.''

National, State, and Local Protected Areas

* Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park *

Apalachicola National Forest The Apalachicola National Forest is the largest U.S. National Forest in the state of Florida. It encompasses and is the only national forest located in the Florida Panhandle. The National Forest provides water and land-based outdoors activiti ...

* DeSoto Site Historic State Park * Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park * Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park * Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park * Lake Talquin State Forest and Park * Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park * Miccosukee Canopy Road Greenway * Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park * Ochlockonee River State Park * San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park * St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge * St. Marks River Preserve State Park * Wakulla State Forest

Communities

The Tallahassee Metropolitan Area has eight incorporated cities and two incorporated towns, along with thirteen additional populated areas defined as a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau as of the 2020 census. The Combined Statistical Area has an additional three cities, one town, and one CDP. As of 2020, the city of Tallahassee contained 51% and 47% of the MSA and CSA populations, respectively. *''denotes largest city and county chair''

References

Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Definitions
- retrieved July 17, 2006 {{Authority control Geography of Gadsden County, Florida Geography of Jefferson County, Florida Geography of Leon County, Florida Geography of Tallahassee, Florida Geography of Wakulla County, Florida