The question “What is rural?” seems to be the subject to a never-ending debate. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) provides some guidance. The ERS has identified nine different categories for classifying counties by their degree of urbanization. These nine Rural-Urban Continuum Codes are below:
The ERS also has more information on Rural Classifications and the Rural Economy and Population.
Metropolitan Counties* |
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| 1 | Counties in metro areas of 1 million population or more |
| 2 | Counties in metro areas of 250,000 to 1 million population |
| 3 | Counties in metro areas of fewer than 250,000 population |
Nonmetropolitan Counties |
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| 4 | Urban population of 20,000 or more, adjacent to a metro area |
| 5 | Urban population of 20,000 or more, not adjacent to a metro area |
| 6 | Urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, adjacent to a metro area |
| 7 | Urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, not adjacent to a metro area |
| 8 | Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, adjacent to a metro area |
| 9 | Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, not adjacent to a metro area |
| *Metropolitan areas are based on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delineation as of February 2013. See: http://www.census.gov/population/metro/data/metrodef.html | |
