Self Storage Definitions of Statistical Areas - United States
The U.S Department of Management and Budget has identified 574 Primary Statistical Areas (PSAs) in the United States. These PSAs contain 929 sub-markets called Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs). The CBSAs are commonly known as "metropolitan" or "micropolitan" statistical areas (MSAs). Therefore, CBSAs and MSA's can be used interchangeably.

Major market PSAs contain a number of CBSAs, often referred to as Combined Statistical Area (CSA); the minor market PSAs are interchangeably referred to as CBSA. For example, Colorado Springs, CO is a minor market, which we may refer to as either PSA or CBSA; however, "El Paso - Las Cruces, TX-NM" is a PSA containing two sub-markets. A list of government defined statistical areas can be found here.

Self Storage Definitions of Statistical Areas - Canada

In Canada, there are 114 distinct regions. The larger regions are called Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), and the smaller regions are called Census Agglomeration (CA). A complete list of government designated CMAs and CAs can be found here.

To avoid confusion and allow granularity of data, we use the above government defined statistical areas as a guide to define our Regions.