Identifying Nine Rural Definitions
The rural definitions presented here are based on four
sources described in detail below: Census Bureau's list
of places, Census Bureau's list of urban areas, Office
of Management and Budget's metropolitan areas, and ERS
rural-urban commuting areas.
Three Definitions Based on Census Places
To generate statistical tabulations, the Census Bureau
maintains a list of places that, in 2000, included 19,452
incorporated and 5,698 unincorporated places. Incorporated
places have legally defined boundaries established by
each State. Unincorporated places, known as census-designated
places (CDPs), are delineated by committees of local experts
to recognize population concentrations that are identifiable
by name but not legally incorporated. Because they are
based on administrative or locally determined boundaries
and not statistical criteria, places can be of any population
size or density. See a list of
all places in the U.S. and their 2000 population,
or visit
the Census website for more details.
| Definition |
Description |
Percent of people and land area
considered rural in the U.S. under definition (2000) |
| Rural definition #1 |
All areas outside Census places with 2,500 or more
people |
87.7 million people
31% of U.S. population
97% of U.S. land area |
| Rural definition #2 |
All areas outside Census places with 10,000 or more
people |
115.8 million people
41% of U.S. population
98% of U.S. land area |
| Rural definition #3 |
All areas outside Census places with 50,000 or more
people |
177 million people
63% of U.S. population
99% of U.S. land area |
Three Definitions Based on Census Urban Areas
The U.S. Census Bureau defines an urban area as: "Core
census block groups or blocks that have a population density
of at least 1,000 people per square mile and surrounding
census blocks that have an overall density of at least
500 people per square mile."
There are two categories of urban areas. An urbanized
area (UA) denotes an urban area of 50,000 or more people.
An urban cluster (UC) is an urban area with fewer than
50,000 people, but more than 2,500. UAs were first delineated
in the United States in the 1950 census, while UCs were
added in the 2000 census. See a list
of urban areas in the U.S. and their 2000 population,
or visit
the Census website for more details.
The Census Bureau classifies as rural all territory outside
of urban areas. Definition #4 corresponds with this classification,
widely recognized as the "official" Federal
definition of rural for statistical purposes.
Definitions #5 and #6 broaden the rural definition to include urban
areas with populations less than 10,000 and 50,000, respectively.
| Definition |
Description |
Percent of people and land area considered rural
in the U.S. under definition (2000) |
| Rural definition #4 |
All areas outside urban areas. This places the upper
limit of rural at 2,500, since urban areas must have
at least 2,500 people. |
59.1 million people
21% of U.S. population
97% of U.S. land area |
| Rural definition #5 |
All areas outside urban areas with 10,000 or more
people. |
70.6 million people
25% of U.S. population
98% of U.S. land area |
| Rural definition #6 |
All areas outside urban areas with 50,000 or more
people. |
89.5 million people
32% of U.S. population
98% of U.S. land area |
One Definition Based on Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) Metropolitan Statistical
Area Designation
Metropolitan statistical areas (metro areas) are geographic
entities defined by the U.S.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for use by Federal
statistical agencies in collecting, tabulating, and publishing
Federal statistics. A metro area includes one or more counties
containing a core urban area of 50,000 or more people,
together with any adjacent counties that have a high degree
of social and economic integration (as measured by commuting
to work) with the urban core. OMB also defines micropolitan
statistical areas using the same method but centered around
urban areas with at least 10,000 but no more than 50,000
people. Definition #7 classifies micropolitan counties
as rural. See a list
of metro and micro counties or visit the Census
website for additional information.
| Definition |
Description |
Percent of people and land area considered rural
in the U.S. under definition (2000) |
| Rural definition #7 |
All counties outside metropolitan areas in 2003
(based on 2000 census data) |
48.8 million people
17% of U.S. population
75% of U.S. land area |
One Definition Based on ERS
Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes (RUCAs)
The RUCA system classifies census tracts following the
same theoretical concepts and data used by OMB to define
metro and micro areas. Measures of population density,
urbanization, and daily commuting are used to identify
metropolitan, micropolitan, and small-town urban cores,
adjacent tracts that are economically integrated with those
cores, and outlying rural tracts. The use of census tracts
instead of counties provides a different and more detailed geographic pattern
of settlement classification.
The classification contains 10 primary and 30 secondary
codes. Few, if any, research or policy applications need
the full set of codes. Rather, the system allows for stricter
or looser delimitation of metropolitan, micropolitan, and
small-town commuting areas, and different definitions of
rural based on selected combinations of codes. The rural
definition used here consists of RUCA primary codes 4-10.
In addition to the RUCA system based on census tracts,
a zip code version is also available. See the Measuring
Rurality Briefing Room for
more information and data.
| Definition |
Description |
Percent of people and land area considered rural
in the U.S. under definition (2000) |
| Rural definition #8 |
Census tracts with 2000 RUCA codes 4 through 10 |
57.6 million people
20% of U.S. population
81% of U.S. land area |
One Definition Based on USDA’s Business and Industry
(B&I) Loan Program Definition
As part of its eligibility criteria, the B&I Loan
Program adopted a definition established in the 2002 Farm
Bill that includes as rural all areas outside "places of
50,000 or more people and their adjacent and contiguous
urbanized areas." This language combines criteria from
two of the sources described here: Census Places and Census
Urban Areas.
| Definition |
Description |
Percent of people and land area considered rural
in the U.S. under definition (2000) |
| Rural definition #9 |
Locations outside places of 50,000 or more people
and their associated urbanized areas. |
101.9 million people
36% of U.S. population
98% of U.S. land area |
Note that all of the above definitions are based on
the 2000 Census. Over time, changes, additions, and corrections
are made. For the most up-to-date Census and OMB definitions,
see the links to their sites.
Developing Socioeconomic Indicators
The following table summarizes the methods used
to compute socioeconomic indicators presented in the data
product. It is meant as a guide to those wishing to duplicate
the indicators, and for those interested in more detail
about the indicators. The first column lists the
indicator. The
second column lists the Census 2000 Summary File 3 (SF3)
segment (for users of the machine-readable file). The third
column gives the formula for computing the indicator, using
the SF3 variable naming convention. SF3 data files and
technical documentation may be downloaded
from the Census Bureau's website.
Sociodemographic Indicator |
Segment |
Variable/Formula |
| Population |
| Total population |
Segment 1 |
p001001 |
| Percent of population
considered rural |
Segment 1 |
Varies for each rural definition,
but is always defined by (aggregate of p001001 for
the defined rural area) / (aggregate of p001001 for
the reference area)
In our case the reference area
is either the U.S. or a particular State. |
| Percent of land considered rural |
Geo |
Varies for each rural definition, but
is always defined by (aggregate of AREALAND for the
defined area) / (aggregate of AREALAND for the reference
area)
In our case the reference area is either the U.S.
or a particular State. |
| Population density (people / sq
mile) |
Geo |
p001001 /
(AREALAND * .38610)
AREALAND is transformed from square
meters |
| Age |
| Percent younger than
18 |
Segment 1 |
sum(p008003 through p008020, p008042
through p008049, p008050 through p008059) / p001001 |
| Percent 19 to 64 |
Segment 1 |
sum(p008021 through p008034, p008060
through p008073) / p001001 |
| Percent 65 or older |
Segment 1 |
sum(p008035 through p008040, p008074
through p008079) / p001001 |
| Ethnicity |
| Percent non-Hispanic
Black |
Segment 3 |
p007004 / p001001 |
| Percent Hispanic |
Segment 3 |
p007010 / p001001 |
| Percent American Indian |
Segment 3 |
p007005 / p001001 |
| Education (for the
population 25 years and over) |
| Percent not completing
high school |
Segment 3 |
sum (p037003 through
p0370019, p037020 through p037027) / p037001 |
| Percent completing high school only |
Segment 3 |
(p037011 + p037028) /
p037001 |
| Percent completing some
college |
Segment 3 |
sum(p037012,p037013, p037029,p037030)
/ p037001 |
| Percent completing college or more |
Segment 3 |
sum(p037014 through p037018,
p037031 through p037035) / p037001 |
| Income |
| Average household
income ($1000) |
Segment 6 |
p054001 / p052001 |
| Poverty (for the population for whom
poverty is determined, mostly this means not living
in group quarters) |
| Percent near poverty
(ratio of income to poverty level is 1.00
to 1.49) |
Segment 7 |
(p088005 + p088006) /
p088001 |
| Percent below poverty (ratio of income to poverty
level is less than 1.00) |
Segment 7 |
(p088002 + p088003 + p088004) / p088001 |
| Percent in deep poverty (ratio of income to poverty
is less than .50) |
Segment 7 |
p088002 / p088001 |
| Employment |
| Percent in agriculture,
forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining industries (for
the employed civilian population 16 years and over) |
Segment 5 |
(p049003 + p049030) /
p049001 |
| Percent traveling 30 minutes or
longer to work (for workers 16 years and over) |
Segment 3 |
sum(p031009 through p031014)
/ p031002 |
| Housing |
| Percent seasonal housing (for housing units) |
Segment 56 |
h008005 / h001001 |
| Percent without complete plumbing facilities (for
housing units) |
Segment 59 |
h047003 / h047001 |
| Household composition |
| Percent 65 years and older
living alone |
Segment 1 |
(p011013 + p011016) /
p011001 |
| Percent own children
under 18 in female-headed household |
Segment 2 |
p016019 / p016001 |
More About Census Summary File 3
The primary source of data for building rural definitions
and the associated socioeconomic indicators was Census
Summary File 3. Specifically, we used summary level 85.
Summary level 85 gives census data for the intersection
of States-Counties-Places/Remainder-Tract-Urban/Rural.
We needed to use summary level 85 in order to identify
the portions of Census Places that were also part of
Urban Areas.
In the case of the Census Place-based definitions, Census
Urban Area-based definitions, and the Business and Industry
(B&I) Loan Program definition,
we were able to designate an observation as "rural" based
on SF3 geographic identifiers. For the OMB-based
definition, we merged a file identifying metro/nonmetro
counties into SF3, matching by a county ID number. For
the RUCA-based definition, we merged a file identifying
tracts by RUCA code into SF3, matching by a tract ID number.
|
