Ponce metropolitan area

Ponce metropolitan area Ponce metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
Front facade of Ponce Cathedral
Ponce–Coamo, PR CSA   Ponce MSA   Coamo μSA   Other Statistical Areas in Puerto Rico
Country	United States
Territory	Puerto Rico
Principal cities	Ponce Coamo
Time zone	UTC−4
• Summer (DST)	AST

The Ponce Metropolitan Statistical Area is a United States Census Bureau defined Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in south central Puerto Rico. A 1 July 2009 Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 262,414, a 0.95% decrease from the 2000 census figure of 264,919.^[1]

Ponce is the third largest metropolitan area (by population) in Puerto Rico. Of the eight MSA areas in the Commonwealth, only Ponce and Mayagüez experienced population declines during the 2000-2009 period.^{[citation needed]}