Well, if he's not going into Prichard, why would he care? Jackson's crime is bad in large part because it's not avoidable. Most cities have very safe places and very dangerous places. Jackson unfortunately doesn't have very safe places in the city limits any more. It may be somewhat luck that the dangerous parts of Mobile MSA are actually an adjacent municapality, but it provides good info. You can be inside mobile city limits and feel reasonably safe (I assume there are still some parts in the city that are off limits; haven't spent much time in Mobile, but when I was there a few times around 18 years ago, downtown did not feel super safe. Felt kind of like a smaller new orleans. Ok on the main thoroughfares but never more than a block or two from somewhere you shouldn't be.).
And as far as the total MSA population, there is something to be said for population density. A lot of people in the Jackson MSA population count rarely ever go into Jackson proper so they don't help Jackson support any amenities. On the flip side, I think the Daphne Fairhope area is its own MSA, so they don't count for Mobile even though it's just as much a bedroom community to Mobile as Madison is to Jackson.
