The United States stands poised at a moment of significant societal change. Over the last decade, America has passed a number of major demographic milestones. The State of Metropolitan America shows how these 'new realities' are redefining who we are, where and with whom we live, and how we provide for our own welfare, as well as that of our families and communities. And these new realities, most pronounced in the leading edge of the nation's metropolitan areas, are fundamental: the continued growth and outward expansion of our population; its ongoing racial and ethnic diversification; the rapid aging on the horizon; our increasing but selective higher educational attainment; and the intensified income polarization experienced by our workers and families.