Nielsen Audio Top 50 Market Counties
The counties and areas listed here are those that comprise the 2023 Nielsen Audio Top-50 urban markets.
If the LPFM transmitting antenna is physically located in one of these areas, then the following FCC rules apply:
- §73.853(b) requires that LPFM organizations in the Top-50 urban markets must have the headquarters or campus of the organization or at least 75% of the organization's board members physically reside within 10 miles of the transmitting antenna location.
- §73.872(b)(1) states that in order to claim the Established Community Presence point, an applicant must, for a period of two years prior to the application and at all times thereafter, have the headquarters or campus of the organization or at least 75% of the organization's board members physically reside within 10 miles of the transmitting antenna location.
- §73.872(b)(3) states that in order to claim the Main Studio point, that the applicant pledges to maintain a publicly accessible main studio with local program origination capability, is reachable by telephone, is staffed at least 20 hours per week between 7AM~10PM and is located within 10 miles of the transmitting antenna.
For counties and areas not designated as Top-50 urban markets, the 10 mile limit is extended to 20 miles.
Arizona |
Maricopa |
California |
Alameda, Contra Costa, El Dorado (west of the Sierras including Placerville but not including South Lake Tahoe), Los Angeles, Marin, Napa, Nevada (west of the Sierras, including Grass Valley and Nevada City, but not including Truckee), Orange, Placer (west of the Sierras, including Roseville, Auburn and Foresthill but not including Tahoe City), Riverside (Inland Empire area west of the San Jacintos. Does not include the southern portion of the county such as Lake Elsinore, Temecula and Murrieta. Also does not include the Coachella Valley, including Palm Springs and Indio or anywhere east of there), Sacramento, San Bernardino (Inland Empire and Big Bear/Lake Arrowhead areas only. Does not include the western portion of the county, such as Ontario, Chino and Rancho Cucamonga. Also does not include the Victor Valley and high desert areas such as Barstow.), San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo |
Colorado |
Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson |
Connecticut |
Fairfield (Stamford, Norwalk, Darien, New Canaan and Wilton areas only. All other areas outside of top-50) |
District of Columbia |
Washington, DC |
Florida |
Baker, Broward, Clay, Duval, Hernando, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, St. Johns, Seminole |
Georgia |
Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Spaulding, Walton |
Illinois |
Clinton, Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, Madison, McHenry, Monroe, St. Clair, Will |
Indiana |
Boone, Dearborn, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Lake, Marion, Morgan, Ohio, Porter, Shelby |
Kansas |
Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami, Wyandotte |
Kentucky |
Boone, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Pendleton |
Louisiana |
Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Washington |
Maryland |
Anne Arundel, Baltimore (city and county), Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's, Queen Anne's |
Massachusetts |
Bristol, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, Westchester, Worcester (northern portion of the county – the city of Worcester and surrounding area is not in the top-50 urban area) |
Michigan |
Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Wayne |
Minnesota |
Anoka, Carver, Chicago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne (eastern portion including Becker, Big Lake, Elk River and Zimmerman but not including St. Cloud), Washington, Wright |
Mississippi |
Pearl River |
Missouri |
Cass, Clay, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lincoln, Platte, Ray, St. Charles, St. Louis (city and county), Warren |
Nevada |
Clark |
New Hampshire |
Hillsborough (most of county except Manchester, Goffstown and Bedford) |
New Jersey |
Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Union |
New York |
Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens, Putnam, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Westchester |
North Carolina |
Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Chatham, Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Durham, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Guildford, Iredell, Johnston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Orange, Randolph, Rowan, Stanly, Stokes, Union, Wake, Yadkin |
Ohio |
Brown, Butler, Clermont, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Geauga, Hamilton, Lake, Licking, Lorain, Madison, Medina, Pickaway, Union, Warren |
Oklahoma |
Canadian, Cleveland, Grady, Kingfisher, Lincoln, Logan, McClain, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie, Seminole |
Oregon |
Clackamas, Marion, Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill |
Pennsylvania |
Allegheny, Bucks, Butler, Beaver, Chester, Delaware, Fayette, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Washington, Westmoreland |
Puerto Rico |
All areas |
Rhode Island |
All areas |
South Carolina |
Chester, Lancaster, York |
Tennessee |
Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, Wilson |
Texas |
Atascosa, Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Brazoria, Caldwell, Chambers, Collin, Comal, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Fort Bend, Galveston, Guadalupe, Harris, Hays, Hood, Johnson, Kaufman, Kendall, Liberty, Medina, Montgomery, Parker, Polk, Rockwall, San Jacinto, Tarrant, Travis, Waller, Williamson, Wilson, Wise |
Utah |
Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Weber |
Virginia |
Arlington, Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, Gloucester, James City, Loudoun, Newport News, Norfolk, Prince William, Stafford, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, York |
Washington |
Clark, Island, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, Thurston |
Wisconsin |
Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Pierce, Racine, St. Croix, Washington, Waukesha |