This report presents data on selected social and economic characteristics of the population by type of residence from the March 1970 Current Population Survey (CPS) and from a one-in-thousand sample of the 1960 census. All tables offer data for the following residence categories: (1) metropolitan areas, (2) central cities within metropolitan areas, (3) suburban rings (those portions of metropolitan areas outside central cities), and (4) nonmetropolitan areas. The metropolitan area definition used in this report corresponds to that for standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSA's) used in the 1960 census. Though the number and size of SMSA's has changed since 1960, the previous definition is used here in order to present socioeconomic data from the 1960 census comparable to those from the March 1970 CPS. Wherever possible, data are presented for whites and Negroes separately. The major subjects featured in this report are: population, type of family and family income, education, employment, earnings, occupation, and poverty.

This is the third in a series of reports presenting data for persons residing in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Data for 1968 and 1969 can be found, respectively, in Current Population Reports, Series P-23, No. 27, “Trends in Social and Economic Conditions in Metropolitan Areas,” and P-23, No. 33, “Trends in Social and Economic Conditions in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas.” The format of this report has been changed from that of its predecessors to include detailed tables in order to make the maximum amount of data available to the user.