Charleston metropolitan area, West Virginia

Charleston Metropolitan Area
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Charleston–Huntington–Ashland, WV–OH–KY
Charleston–Huntington–Ashland, WV–OH–KY CSA   Charleston, WV MSA   Huntington–Ashland, WV–KY–OH MSA   Portsmouth, OH µSA   City of Charleston   City of Huntington   City of Ashland
Country	United States
State	West Virginia Kentucky Ohio
Largest city	Charleston
Other cities	- Huntington  - Ashland  - Portsmouth  - Ironton  - South Charleston  - St. Albans  - Dunbar
Area
• Total	2,159.9 sq mi (5,594 km2)
Highest elevation	Kelly Knob[1]1,512 ft (461 m)
Lowest elevation	Ohio River[2]485 ft (148 m)
Population  (2015 est.)
• Total	361,580
• Rank	146th in the U.S.
• Density	167.4/sq mi (64.6/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)

The Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in West Virginia, anchored by the city of Charleston. It is the largest metropolitan area entirely within the state of West Virginia. The Huntington Metro Area adds to the Charleston–Huntington, WV-OH-KY CSA and spans three states (West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio), while the core county of the Charleston area, Kanawha County, is more populous than the West Virginia portion of the Huntington area.

Charleston is its largest and most populous city in the MSA. Cross Lanes is its most populous census-designated place.^[3] As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 309,635 (though new standards set on February 28, 2013 placed the population at 240,000).^[4] Prior to the 2000 Census, the Charleston MSA consisted of only two counties – Kanawha and Putnam (the latter of which is now considered part of the Huntington metropolitan area).