What USDA hardiness zone is Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD?

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD spans USDA hardiness zones 7a to 8a. 60% of its ZIP codes are zone 7b, so there is no single zone for the metro.

Place guide

Planting zones in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

Q: When is the last spring frost in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD?

The median last spring freeze runs March 23 – April 24 across the 18 NOAA weather stations serving Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, from NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals. Half of years freeze later than the median.

This metro spans USDA zones 7a to 8a, so there is no single zone for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 60% of its ZIP codes are zone 7b; the rest are not.

USDA zones 7a–8a 3 zones across 162 ZIP codes

ZIP codes 162 162 have a NOAA station within range

Weather stations 18 NOAA 1991–2020 normals, across 2,601 sq mi

Your ZIP code

Get the exact answer for your address

Everything above describes Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD as a whole. Hardiness zones and freeze dates are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact — enter it and this page will tell you your zone, which NOAA station it comes from and how far away that station is.

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD does not have one planting answer

Its own weather stations disagree about 15 of the 32 crops in this table right now, so any single list would be wrong for part of the metro area. That is not a gap in the data — it is what the data says.

Shortest season: 177 days
HANOVER 4 SW, PA US (USC00363665)
Longest season: 244 days
MD SCI CTR BALTIMORE, MD US (USW00093784)

67 days of growing season separate those two stations, and both serve ZIP codes in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD. The ZIP lookup above answers for one address instead of averaging a place that has no average.

Why the hardiness zone does not settle this

A USDA zone is a winter-minimum statistic. It was never a growing-season one, and it does not behave like one: within a single zone the growing season runs a median 54 days wider at the 10th–90th percentile, and annual growing degree days vary by 2.02×.

The zones also overlap rather than stack — 30% of zone 6b freezes before the median zone 6a station. The zone tells you what survives your winter; the station tells you what finishes before your autumn.

The whole dataset behind that →

All 18 stations agreeAt least one station

Every one of the 18 NOAA stations serving this metro area counts April 24 – October 20 as growing season (179 days). Widening to any single station gives March 23 – November 21 (243 days).

That is a 64-day difference inside one metro area — which is why this page gives ranges rather than a single planting date. The ZIP lookup above resolves it to one station.

Which zone you are in depends where you are

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD covers 3 hardiness zones. A guide that gives the metro one zone has picked whichever is largest and rounded everyone else into it — which is fine for the 60% in zone 7b and wrong for the other 40%. Here is the actual split.

Zone	ZIP codes	Share
7b	97	60%
8a	38	23%
7a	27	17%

Zones are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact even though the metro's is not. The hardiness tool will tell you which one you are in.

Your freeze dates

Last spring freeze March 23 – April 24

First fall freeze October 20 – November 21

Those are the earliest and latest medians among the 18 stations serving this metro — not an average, and not one station standing in for the rest. Half of years freeze later than a station's own median.

The spread is the point. Even in a metro that is one hardiness zone throughout, its stations disagree about the last spring freeze. Hardiness zone and frost date measure different things — a zone is the average annual coldest night, a freeze date is when the season turns — and a place can be uniform in one and varied in the other. Use the tools below with your own ZIP rather than the ends of this range.

Your growing season

NOAA publishes a growing-season length for each station, and across the 18 stations serving Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD it runs 177–244 days . That figure is published, not computed from the two freeze dates — subtracting one from the other gives the wrong answer wherever a season crosses New Year. Mean summer high (June–August) runs 82–88 °F , below the 90 °F point where cool-season crops reliably bolt. Summer rain over the same months runs 11.8–13.7" across those 15 stations, against the rough inch a week — about 13 inches over the same 92 days — that a vegetable garden is usually reckoned to want. The middle station covers about 97% of it, so expect to make up the rest. The inches are NOAA's published normals; the inch a week is a rule of thumb, and it takes no account of a 85 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.

When to start seeds in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

Every spring job for 63 crop dates, counted from this metro's own last spring freeze. Each is a range across all 18 stations — the earliest and latest that job falls anywhere in the metro — because no one station speaks for the whole area.

Crop	Job	When	Offset
Green Onions	Start indoors	January 26 – February 27	8 weeks before
Peppers	Start indoors	January 26 – February 27	8 weeks before
Broccoli	Start indoors	February 9 – March 13	6 weeks before
Cabbage	Start indoors	February 9 – March 13	6 weeks before
Collards	Start indoors	February 9 – March 13	6 weeks before
Kale	Start indoors	February 9 – March 13	6 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce	Start indoors	February 9 – March 13	6 weeks before
Peas	Direct sow	February 9 – March 13	6 weeks before
Spinach	Direct sow	February 9 – March 13	6 weeks before
Sweet Potato	Start indoors	February 9 – March 13	6 weeks before
Tomatoes	Start indoors	February 9 – March 13	6 weeks before
Bok Choy	Start indoors	February 16 – March 20	5 weeks before
Kohlrabi	Start indoors	February 16 – March 20	5 weeks before
Swiss Chard	Start indoors	February 16 – March 20	5 weeks before
Arugula	Direct sow	February 23 – March 27	4 weeks before
Baby Salad Greens	Direct sow	February 23 – March 27	4 weeks before
Beets	Direct sow	February 23 – March 27	4 weeks before
Green Onions	Direct sow	February 23 – March 27	4 weeks before
Mustard Greens	Direct sow	February 23 – March 27	4 weeks before
Okra	Start indoors	February 23 – March 27	4 weeks before
Radishes	Direct sow	February 23 – March 27	4 weeks before
Turnips	Direct sow	February 23 – March 27	4 weeks before
Cabbage	Set out	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Carrots	Direct sow	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Collards	Direct sow	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Collards	Set out	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Cucumbers	Start indoors	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Green Onions	Set out	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Kale	Direct sow	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Kale	Set out	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Kohlrabi	Direct sow	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Kohlrabi	Set out	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce	Direct sow	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Pumpkins	Start indoors	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Summer Squash	Start indoors	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Winter Squash	Start indoors	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Zucchini	Start indoors	March 2 – April 3	3 weeks before
Bok Choy	Direct sow	March 9 – April 10	2 weeks before
Bok Choy	Set out	March 9 – April 10	2 weeks before
Broccoli	Set out	March 9 – April 10	2 weeks before
Cilantro	Direct sow	March 9 – April 10	2 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce	Set out	March 9 – April 10	2 weeks before
Swiss Chard	Direct sow	March 9 – April 10	2 weeks before
Swiss Chard	Set out	March 9 – April 10	2 weeks before
Dill	Direct sow	March 16 – April 17	1 week before
Bush Beans	Direct sow	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Cucumbers	Set out	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Pumpkins	Direct sow	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Pumpkins	Set out	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Summer Squash	Direct sow	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Summer Squash	Set out	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Sweet Corn	Direct sow	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Tomatoes	Set out	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Winter Squash	Direct sow	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Winter Squash	Set out	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Zucchini	Direct sow	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Zucchini	Set out	March 30 – May 1	1 week after
Cucumbers	Direct sow	April 6 – May 8	2 weeks after
Okra	Direct sow	April 6 – May 8	2 weeks after
Okra	Set out	April 6 – May 8	2 weeks after
Peppers	Set out	April 6 – May 8	2 weeks after
Southern Peas	Direct sow	April 6 – May 8	2 weeks after
Sweet Potato	Set out	April 6 – May 8	2 weeks after

The week offsets are conventional extension guidance and vary by variety; the freeze dates they are counted from are measured. For a single date rather than a range, run when do I start my seeds? with your own ZIP code.

What survives the winter changes across Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

Of 74 perennial fruits, nuts, berries, vegetables and herbs, 58 come through the winter in zone 7a and only 56 in zone 7b. That is a different garden at each end of the same metro.

Zone	ZIPs	Survive	Fail for being too warm
7a	27	58 of 74	1
7b	97	56 of 74	3
8a	38	57 of 74	8

The last column is the counterintuitive one, and it is why the totals do not simply rise as the winters get milder. Most temperate fruit needs a documented number of hours below about 45 °F to break dormancy and set a crop, so an apple fails in a winter that is too warm; currants and rhubarb cook in the summer heat that comes with it. See the full list with reasons.

Cautious — shortens the seasonMedian across stationsOptimistic

Last spring freeze: Plan to May 11 to be careful. Median March 23 – April 24 across 18 stations; March 8 is the optimistic end.
First fall freeze: Plan to October 6 to be careful. Median October 20 – November 21 across 18 stations; December 8 is the optimistic end.

NOAA publishes these as probabilities, not averages — the middle figure is a median, so half of years fall either side of it. The cautious end is the 10% tail: in roughly nine years in ten the freeze falls on the safe side of it.

The 18 stations behind these numbers

All 18 NOAA stations whose normals this page quotes, spanning about 117 km north to south. Every one is named with its identifier in the station list below — this page does not single one out, because no one station speaks for a whole metro area.

A relative sketch, not a map with a projection: longitude is adjusted for latitude so the shape is not stretched, and there is no basemap. For the one station nearest a specific address, with its real distance, use the ZIP lookup above.

Every figure above comes from these, and each is named so you can check it. Which station serves a given ZIP code, and how far away it is, varies across the metro — the table below gives it per ZIP code rather than this page averaging it.

Station	NOAA ID	Last spring freeze	First fall freeze	Season
Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	USW00013701	April 10	October 30	201 days
Annapolis Naf, MD	USW00013752	March 23	November 20	241 days
Annapolis Police Brks, MD	USC00180193	March 27	November 13	234 days
Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	USW00093721	April 10	October 31	204 days
Chestertown, MD	USC00181750	April 3	November 5	217 days
Conowingo Dam, MD	USC00182060	April 3	November 6	217 days
Cylburn, MD	USC00182308	April 2	November 7	220 days
Damascus 3 Ssw, MD	USC00182336	April 14	October 29	196 days
Dover, DE	USC00072730	April 4	November 4	214 days
Emmitsburg 2 SE, MD	USC00182906	April 22	October 20	179 days
Glenn Dale Bell Stn, MD	USC00183675	April 22	October 22	183 days
Hanover 4 SW, PA	USC00363665	April 24	October 20	177 days
Laurel 3 W, MD	USC00185111	April 5	November 9	218 days
Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	USW00093784	March 24	November 21	244 days
Millers 4 NE, MD	USC00185934	April 19	October 25	188 days
Royal Oak 2 Ssw, MD	USC00187806	April 1	November 7	220 days
Stevensville 2Sw, MD	USC00188557	March 29	November 12	228 days
Upper Marlboro 3 Nnw, MD	USC00189070	April 9	October 29	203 days

These are medians, not averages — NOAA publishes freeze dates as a probability distribution, and half of years freeze later than the date shown.

Every ZIP code in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

Zones are published per ZIP code, not per metro area, so this is the exact answer rather than the metro area's average. The station column is the nearest one to that ZIP code's centroid and how far away it is — the same figure the tools use, shown here so you can see which ZIP codes are well covered and which are reaching.

ZIP code	USDA zone	Nearest NOAA station	Distance
20701	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	9.8 km
20711	7b	Upper Marlboro 3 Nnw, MD	12.1 km
20714	8a	Upper Marlboro 3 Nnw, MD	26.3 km
20723	7b	Laurel 3 W, MD	6.5 km
20724	7b	Laurel 3 W, MD	9.5 km
20733	8a	Annapolis Naf, MD	20.6 km
20751	8a	Upper Marlboro 3 Nnw, MD	19.0 km
20755	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	9.3 km
20758	7b	Upper Marlboro 3 Nnw, MD	20.3 km
20759	7b	Laurel 3 W, MD	8.2 km
20763	7b	Laurel 3 W, MD	9.1 km
20764	8a	Annapolis Naf, MD	17.1 km
20776	7b	Annapolis Police Brks, MD	14.8 km
20777	7b	Laurel 3 W, MD	11.7 km
20778	8a	Upper Marlboro 3 Nnw, MD	17.1 km
20779	8a	Upper Marlboro 3 Nnw, MD	20.1 km
20794	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	9.8 km
21001	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	4.5 km
21005	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	5.1 km
21009	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	9.9 km
21010	8a	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	13.9 km
21012	8a	Annapolis Police Brks, MD	6.0 km
21013	7b	Cylburn, MD	22.5 km
21014	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	17.2 km
21015	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	13.3 km
21017	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	5.6 km
21023	7b	Cylburn, MD	20.3 km
21028	7a	Conowingo Dam, MD	11.8 km
21029	7b	Laurel 3 W, MD	15.2 km
21030	7b	Cylburn, MD	18.5 km
21031	7b	Cylburn, MD	14.9 km
21032	7b	Annapolis Police Brks, MD	9.2 km
21034	7a	Conowingo Dam, MD	4.4 km
21035	7b	Annapolis Police Brks, MD	12.0 km
21036	7b	Laurel 3 W, MD	19.0 km
21037	8a	Annapolis Police Brks, MD	8.8 km
21040	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	10.8 km
21042	7b	Laurel 3 W, MD	21.4 km
21043	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	14.2 km
21044	7b	Laurel 3 W, MD	13.5 km
21045	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	13.2 km
21046	7b	Laurel 3 W, MD	11.4 km
21047	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	23.8 km
21048	7a	Millers 4 NE, MD	26.5 km
21050	7b	Conowingo Dam, MD	20.2 km
21051	7b	Cylburn, MD	21.6 km
21052	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	16.9 km
21053	7a	Millers 4 NE, MD	7.9 km
21054	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	12.4 km
21056	8a	Annapolis Naf, MD	11.0 km
21057	7b	Cylburn, MD	16.1 km
21060	8a	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	9.1 km
21061	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	4.5 km
21071	7a	Cylburn, MD	19.8 km
21074	7a	Millers 4 NE, MD	11.3 km
21075	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	7.1 km
21076	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	3.5 km
21077	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	1.7 km
21078	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	10.0 km
21082	7b	Cylburn, MD	20.8 km
21084	7a	Conowingo Dam, MD	25.4 km
21085	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	16.3 km
21087	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	21.1 km
21090	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	5.0 km
21093	7b	Cylburn, MD	9.5 km
21102	7a	Millers 4 NE, MD	4.9 km
21104	7b	Cylburn, MD	22.3 km
21105	7a	Millers 4 NE, MD	12.9 km
21108	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	10.0 km
21111	7a	Millers 4 NE, MD	24.3 km
21113	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	11.8 km
21114	7b	Glenn Dale Bell Stn, MD	11.3 km
21117	7a	Cylburn, MD	13.4 km
21120	7a	Millers 4 NE, MD	13.6 km
21122	8a	Annapolis Police Brks, MD	13.5 km
21128	7b	Cylburn, MD	18.6 km
21130	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	1.7 km
21131	7b	Cylburn, MD	17.7 km
21132	7a	Conowingo Dam, MD	21.6 km
21133	7a	Cylburn, MD	13.8 km
21136	7a	Cylburn, MD	19.0 km
21140	7b	Annapolis Police Brks, MD	8.3 km
21144	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	5.2 km
21146	8a	Annapolis Police Brks, MD	10.5 km
21152	7a	Millers 4 NE, MD	20.8 km
21153	7b	Cylburn, MD	8.2 km
21154	7a	Conowingo Dam, MD	15.9 km
21155	7a	Millers 4 NE, MD	16.2 km
21156	7b	Aberdeen Phillips FLD, MD	20.7 km
21157	7a	Millers 4 NE, MD	24.5 km
21158	7a	Hanover 4 SW, PA	13.0 km
21160	7a	Conowingo Dam, MD	12.3 km
21161	7a	Millers 4 NE, MD	21.4 km
21162	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	21.3 km
21163	7b	Cylburn, MD	16.8 km
21201	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	1.9 km
21202	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	1.8 km
21204	7b	Cylburn, MD	6.4 km
21205	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	4.5 km
21206	7b	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	8.7 km
21207	7b	Cylburn, MD	6.5 km
21208	7b	Cylburn, MD	7.0 km
21209	7b	Cylburn, MD	2.6 km
21210	7b	Cylburn, MD	1.7 km
21211	7b	Cylburn, MD	3.0 km
21212	7b	Cylburn, MD	3.7 km
21213	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	4.6 km
21214	7b	Cylburn, MD	7.7 km
21215	7b	Cylburn, MD	2.6 km
21216	7b	Cylburn, MD	5.0 km
21217	7b	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	3.8 km
21218	7b	Cylburn, MD	5.2 km
21219	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	15.9 km
21220	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	20.0 km
21221	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	14.8 km
21222	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	9.9 km
21223	7b	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	3.9 km
21224	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	5.8 km
21225	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	6.2 km
21226	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	9.0 km
21227	7b	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	7.6 km
21228	7b	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	12.0 km
21229	7b	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	7.1 km
21230	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	2.1 km
21231	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	1.7 km
21233	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	1.3 km
21234	7b	Cylburn, MD	11.4 km
21236	7b	Cylburn, MD	15.1 km
21237	8a	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	11.8 km
21239	7b	Cylburn, MD	5.9 km
21240	7b	Baltimore Wash INTL AP, MD	1.3 km
21244	7b	Cylburn, MD	10.8 km
21250	7b	Md Sci Ctr Baltimore, MD	9.3 km
21252	7b	Cylburn, MD	5.8 km
21285	7b	Cylburn, MD	5.0 km
21286	7b	Cylburn, MD	9.5 km
21401	7b	Annapolis Police Brks, MD	4.0 km
21402	8a	Annapolis Naf, MD	0.7 km
21403	8a	Annapolis Naf, MD	5.0 km
21405	8a	Annapolis Police Brks, MD	5.2 km
21409	8a	Annapolis Naf, MD	4.4 km
21607	7b	Chestertown, MD	19.2 km
21617	7b	Chestertown, MD	18.6 km
21619	8a	Stevensville 2Sw, MD	7.1 km
21623	7b	Chestertown, MD	12.7 km
21628	7b	Chestertown, MD	11.3 km
21638	8a	Stevensville 2Sw, MD	11.8 km
21644	7b	Chestertown, MD	18.9 km
21649	7b	Dover, DE	24.0 km
21657	7b	Royal Oak 2 Ssw, MD	30.8 km
21658	8a	Stevensville 2Sw, MD	17.1 km
21666	8a	Stevensville 2Sw, MD	3.5 km
21668	7b	Chestertown, MD	17.6 km
21723	7a	Damascus 3 Ssw, MD	21.0 km
21737	7b	Damascus 3 Ssw, MD	17.7 km
21738	7b	Damascus 3 Ssw, MD	17.7 km
21757	7a	Emmitsburg 2 SE, MD	9.4 km
21776	7a	Emmitsburg 2 SE, MD	23.7 km
21784	7a	Damascus 3 Ssw, MD	26.9 km
21787	7a	Emmitsburg 2 SE, MD	9.6 km
21794	7b	Damascus 3 Ssw, MD	23.2 km
21797	7b	Damascus 3 Ssw, MD	15.9 km

ZIP-code positions are area centroids, so a large rural ZIP code's listed distance is measured from the middle of its area rather than from any particular address in it.

Your own ZIP

Work out your own dates

Each of these takes a ZIP code and answers for that ZIP alone, citing the station it used and how far away it is. There is a ZIP box in the header of every page.

What survives my winter?
Runs on the hardiness zone, so it answers for all of Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD at once — zone across 74 perennial fruits, berries, vegetables and herbs.
When do I start my seeds?
Dates every spring job from your own last freeze — sow indoors, set out, direct sow.
When do I sow the next round?
How often each crop is worth re-sowing, and when the next sowing is due.
What can I still plant?
Counts the growing days left before your first fall freeze, crop by crop.

Other places to compare

These metros span exactly the same zones — 7a–8a — so the same plants are in and out of range across them. The freeze dates and the spring calendar are their own.

Gardening in Maryland — zones 6a– 8a covers the whole state: how its 474 ZIP codes divide between 5 hardiness zones, and the freeze dates across every NOAA station in it.

Other metro areas in MD:

All 388 metro areas, by state

Gear

If you want to act on this

Each link opens an Amazon search rather than a product we picked. We have not tested these and do not rank them — the search is the honest version, and you choose.

Row cover and frost clothThe season here closes at the first fall freeze dated above — a cover buys back some of those days at the end.
MulchFor the perennials nearest their cold limit in zone 7a, where an insulated crown is what decides whether they come back.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. That costs you nothing extra, and it buys no influence over anything on this site: the dates come from NOAA normals and the zones from the USDA, and no product affects either.

Sources

Where these numbers come from

The hardiness zone is the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, published per ZIP code by PRISM at Oregon State. The freeze dates are NOAA's 1991–2020 Climate Normals, read from every station whose normals cover a ZIP code in this metro. Nothing here is estimated, and no station stands in for another.

This page names no single station on purpose. Picking one to represent a metro sounds reasonable and is not: the station serving the most ZIP codes is an artifact of where ZIP centroids happen to fall, and it selects a lock on the Monongahela for Pittsburgh and a far southern suburb for Chicago. A range across every station is true; a single cited date for a whole metro is not.

All metro areas