Series type
Administrative data
Time period
1974 - present
U.S. Rural-Urban Continuum Codes form a classification scheme that distinguishes metropolitan counties by the population size of their metro area, and nonmetropolitan counties by degree of urbanization and adjacency to a metro area. Metro counties are divided into three categories according to the total population size of the metro area of which they are part: 1 million people or more, 250,000 to 1 million people, and below 250,000. Nonmetro counties are classified first into three urban-size categories (an urban population of 19,999 or more, 2,500 to 20,000, and less than 2,500), then are sub-divided by whether or not the county is adjacent to one or more metro areas.
