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ERS produces and maintains a number of data sets that
are used by policymakers and researchers to identify and
describe rural and urban areas. Measures of rurality such
as the Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, Urban Influence Codes classify counties
based on criteria such as population size, adjacency to
a metropolitan area, and commuting flows. These codes have
been used to determine program eligibility criteria for
various Federal programs. Other data products classify
counties in both metro and nonmetro areas based on key
social and economic characteristics (County Typology Codes);
physical characteristics (Natural Amenities Scale); and
prevalence of creative occupations (Creative Class Codes).
In addition, the State Fact Sheets provide a wide range
of economic and social information about the 50 States,
with links to related county-level data available on the
ERS site.
ERS has resources to help you:
| Tools To
Determine Rural Status and Degree of Rurality |
Rural
Definitions—Dozens of definitions are
currently used by Federal and State agencies, researchers,
and policymakers. The ERS Rural Definitions data
product allows users to make comparisons among
nine representative rural definitions. Socioeconomic
indicators (population, education, poverty, etc.)
that are commonly used to highlight differences
between urban and rural areas are included.
Rural-Urban
Continuum Codes—The Rural-Urban Continuum
Codes classify all U.S. counties by the degree
of urbanization and adjacency to a metropolitan
area. These codes are used in determining eligibility
for several Federal programs, and allow researchers
to break county-level data into finer residential
groups than the standard dichotomous metro/nonmetro.
They are based on the June 2003 definition of metropolitan
and nonmetropolitan counties as determined by the
Office of Management and Budget.
2003
Urban Influence Codes—These codes are
similar to the Rural-Urban Continuum Codes. Counties
are classified, however, by the population size
of the cities within each county, rather than the
degree of urbanization, and adjacency to a metropolitan
or micropolitan area.
2000
Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes (RUCA)—The
Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes classify U.S.
census tracts using measures of urbanization, population
density, and daily commuting from the 1990 decennial
census.
Commuting
Zone and Labor Market Areas Codes—Labor
Market Areas and Commuting Zones are county aggregations
that are intended to be used as spatial measures
of local labor markets. |
| Socioeconomic Data Based on County Delineations |
Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America—The Atlas is a web-based interactive mapping tool that displays a broad range of data at the county level to visualize how social and economic conditions vary in rural areas across the United States. Users can create and download maps and download data.
2004
County Typology Codes—This typology classifies
metro and nonmetro counties based on primary economic
activity and social characteristics. The six nonoverlapping
economic types are:
- farming-dependent,
- mining-dependent,
- manufacturing-dependent,
- Federal/State government-dependent,
- services-dependent, and
- nonspecialized.
Also, counties are classified based on seven overlapping
policy types:
- housing stress,
- low-education,
- low-employment,
- population loss,
- persistent poverty,
- nonmetro recreation, and
- retirement destination counties.
County-Level Population
Data—Population data from the U.S. Census
Bureau for 1990, 2000, and the latest estimate
available. View maps showing population change
and download data.
County-Level Poverty
Estimates—Poverty estimates from the
U.S. Census Bureau.
County-Level Unemployment,
and Median Household Income Estimates—Unemployment
rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and
median household income estimates from U.S. Census
Bureau.
County-Level Federal
Funds—Federal expenditures
and obligations for grants, salaries and wages,
procurements, direct payments, direct loans, guaranteed
loans, and insurance obtained from Federal Government
agencies. ERS screens the data for each Federal
program for accuracy at the county level and then
presents the data by function and type of program
for each county and State. Natural
Amenities Scale—The Natural Amenities
Scale is a measure of the physical characteristics
of a county area that enhance the location as
a place to live. The scale was constructed by
combining measures of warm winter, winter sun,
temperate summer, low summer humidity, topographic
variation, and water area. The data are available
for counties in the lower 48 States.
Creative Class
County Codes—The creative class thesis—that
towns need to attract engineers, architects,
artists, and people in other creative occupations
to compete in today's economy—may be particularly
relevant to rural communities. The ERS creative
class codes indicate a county's share of population
employed in occupations that require "thinking
creatively." Data are provided for all counties
in the U.S. for 1990 and 2000. |
| Other
Data |
ERS State
Fact Sheets provide State-level summaries of
population, employment, income, farm characteristics,
farm financial conditions, and more.
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