What is Rural? – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on What is Rural?.
Comment on Recommendations from the Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Standards Review Committee to Changes in Metropolitan and Micropolitan Area Standards
Offers comments in response to the Office of Management and Budget's proposed changes to the metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area standards. Discusses potential unintended consequences of the proposed changes and the broader implications of the definition of metropolitan on research and policy development.
Date: 03/2021
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
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Offers comments in response to the Office of Management and Budget's proposed changes to the metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area standards. Discusses potential unintended consequences of the proposed changes and the broader implications of the definition of metropolitan on research and policy development.
Date: 03/2021
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
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Redefining Rural: Towards a Better Understanding of Geography, Demography, and Economy in America's Rural Places
Offers a hybrid definition of rurality based on metro and non-metro definitions from the Office of Management and Budget, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, and considers outlying communities in metro and micropolitan counties as rural. Compares rural and non-rural poverty rates, economic well-being, population changes, and other characteristics to represent counties in economic distress.
Author(s): Kennedy O'Dell
Date: 03/2021
Sponsoring organization: Economic Innovation Group
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Offers a hybrid definition of rurality based on metro and non-metro definitions from the Office of Management and Budget, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, and considers outlying communities in metro and micropolitan counties as rural. Compares rural and non-rural poverty rates, economic well-being, population changes, and other characteristics to represent counties in economic distress.
Author(s): Kennedy O'Dell
Date: 03/2021
Sponsoring organization: Economic Innovation Group
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County Reclassifications and Rural–Urban Mortality Disparities in the United States (1970–2018)
Examines urban and rural mortality disparities since 1970, comparing baseline changes to mortality rates by decade of reclassificiation of rural and urban counties based on CDC WONDER data. Describes the impact of reclassification on disparities and the importance of rural and urban classification in policy interventions.
Author(s): Matthew M. Brooks, J. Tom Mueller, Brian C. Thiede
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(12): 1814-1816
Date: 12/2020
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Examines urban and rural mortality disparities since 1970, comparing baseline changes to mortality rates by decade of reclassificiation of rural and urban counties based on CDC WONDER data. Describes the impact of reclassification on disparities and the importance of rural and urban classification in policy interventions.
Author(s): Matthew M. Brooks, J. Tom Mueller, Brian C. Thiede
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(12): 1814-1816
Date: 12/2020
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Is Rural America Failing or Succeeding? Maybe Both
Policy brief examining Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reclassification of rural counties as metropolitan due to population growth. Provides visual data on counties that transitioned from nonmetropolitan to metropolitan since 1970, including a U.S. map representing reclassified counties. Discusses the implications of reclassification for economic policy and interpretations of rural demographics.
Author(s): Kenneth M. Johnson and Daniel T. Lichter
Date: 09/2020
Sponsoring organization: Carsey School of Public Policy
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Policy brief examining Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reclassification of rural counties as metropolitan due to population growth. Provides visual data on counties that transitioned from nonmetropolitan to metropolitan since 1970, including a U.S. map representing reclassified counties. Discusses the implications of reclassification for economic policy and interpretations of rural demographics.
Author(s): Kenneth M. Johnson and Daniel T. Lichter
Date: 09/2020
Sponsoring organization: Carsey School of Public Policy
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What is Rural?
Provides an overview of the different ways the federal government describes areas as rural. Discusses confusion that can arise from multiple definitions of rural areas. Compares how different urban-rural designations classify each county in South Carolina.
Author(s): Samantha Renaud, Kevin Bennett
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare
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Provides an overview of the different ways the federal government describes areas as rural. Discusses confusion that can arise from multiple definitions of rural areas. Compares how different urban-rural designations classify each county in South Carolina.
Author(s): Samantha Renaud, Kevin Bennett
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare
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Considerations for Defining Rural Places in Health Policies and Programs
Highlights key questions to be considered when evaluating a definition of rural that is most appropriate for a specific policy or program. Discusses the principles needed to drive rural definitions and the current challenges of changing rural definitions. Provides an overview of common rural definitions in use, and offers options for the development of new definitions and adjustments to current definitions.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, Andrew F. Coburn, Alana Knudson, Jennifer P. Lundblad, A. Clinton MacKinney, et al.
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Highlights key questions to be considered when evaluating a definition of rural that is most appropriate for a specific policy or program. Discusses the principles needed to drive rural definitions and the current challenges of changing rural definitions. Provides an overview of common rural definitions in use, and offers options for the development of new definitions and adjustments to current definitions.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, Andrew F. Coburn, Alana Knudson, Jennifer P. Lundblad, A. Clinton MacKinney, et al.
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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In Search of "Good" Rural Data: Measuring Rural Prosperity
Discusses the availability of data on rural communities, including economic, health, demographic, and geographic data, and issues that make rural data collection and reporting difficult. Compares 22 datasets, exploring what makes data collection difficult and what makes specific datasets challenging to work with. Addresses methods of locating good information in existing datasets, as well as steps toward improving data access.
Author(s): Corianne Payton Scally, Eric Burnstein, Matthew Gerken, Evelyn Immonen
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Aspen Institute, Housing Assistance Council, Urban Institute
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Discusses the availability of data on rural communities, including economic, health, demographic, and geographic data, and issues that make rural data collection and reporting difficult. Compares 22 datasets, exploring what makes data collection difficult and what makes specific datasets challenging to work with. Addresses methods of locating good information in existing datasets, as well as steps toward improving data access.
Author(s): Corianne Payton Scally, Eric Burnstein, Matthew Gerken, Evelyn Immonen
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Aspen Institute, Housing Assistance Council, Urban Institute
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Micropolitan America
Infographic showing a variety of charts about micropolitan statistical areas. Includes a map of micropolitan areas. Provides data on the micropolitan population compared to the U.S. population as a whole, covering age and sex, race/ethnicity, population change, industry, and occupation.
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Infographic showing a variety of charts about micropolitan statistical areas. Includes a map of micropolitan areas. Provides data on the micropolitan population compared to the U.S. population as a whole, covering age and sex, race/ethnicity, population change, industry, and occupation.
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Defining Rural at the U.S. Census Bureau
An overview of how the Census Bureau has defined rural in the past, the current way urban/rural areas are identified by the Census, and the relationship between decennial censuses, the American Community Survey (ACS), and geography.
Author(s): Michael Ratcliffe, Charlynn Burd, Kelly Holder, Alison Fields
Date: 12/2016
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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An overview of how the Census Bureau has defined rural in the past, the current way urban/rural areas are identified by the Census, and the relationship between decennial censuses, the American Community Survey (ACS), and geography.
Author(s): Michael Ratcliffe, Charlynn Burd, Kelly Holder, Alison Fields
Date: 12/2016
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Rationalizing Rural Area Classifications for the Economic Research Service: A Workshop Summary
Summarizes an April 2015 workshop that explored the data, estimation, and policy issues related to rural classifications currently in use by the Economic Research Service (ERS): Rural Urban Continuum Codes (RUCCs), Urban Influence Codes (UICs), Rural Urban Community Area (RUCA) codes, and Frontier and Remote (FAR) codes.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on National Statistics
Date: 2016
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Summarizes an April 2015 workshop that explored the data, estimation, and policy issues related to rural classifications currently in use by the Economic Research Service (ERS): Rural Urban Continuum Codes (RUCCs), Urban Influence Codes (UICs), Rural Urban Community Area (RUCA) codes, and Frontier and Remote (FAR) codes.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on National Statistics
Date: 2016
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Last Updated: 11/21/2025