% Rural*

A Demographics measure

About

Percentage of population living in a census-defined rural area. The 2025 Annual Data Release used data from 2020 for this measure.

Measuring health and equity by place along the rural to urban spectrum is an essential part of health improvement efforts. Still, there is not one definition for what classifies a community as rural. Community conditions vary among rural and urban places resulting in differences in health outcomes among populations in these places. The presence and size of disparities between rural and urban places are sensitive to the definition or classification system used to define rural and urban places. For example, some classification systems for rurality characterize the density of populations or housing units outside of metropolitan areas, while others consider proximity to metropolitan areas or commuting patterns.1 These classification systems originate from and are used in various federal policymaking contexts, which has implications for allocation of resources.1,2 As a result, some of the differences in health among rural and urban places are due to longstanding policy, practice, norms and traditions that impact whether and how resources are allocated. People and communities can build power to structure society so that everyone benefits. Assuring that laws, policies, practices and traditions address historical harms and create a future of opportunity for all is possible.

Data and methods

Data Source

Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics File

The 2020 Census Demographic Profile and Demographic and Housing Characteristics File (DHC) provide demographic and housing characteristics of local communities, including population data on age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, families and households, and data on homeownership and vacant and occupied housing.

Website to download data
For more detailed methodological information

Key Measure Methods

% Rural is a percentage

% Rural is the percentage of the population that lives in a census-defined rural area.

Numerator

The numerator is the number of people living in areas classified as rural by the Census Bureau - that is, all territory not included in an urban area. Urban areas are densely developed territory that have at least 2,000 housing units or a population of at least 5,000.

Denominator

The denominator is the 2020 decinnial census county population.

The method for calculating % Rural has changed

The Census criteria for urban and rural areas change with each decennial census. With the 2024 Annual Data Release, the Health Snapshots reflect the new urban and rural criteria from 2020 decennial census.

Caution should be used when comparing these estimates across years

Data should not be compared across all years that are available due to methods changes described in the “The method for calculating % Rural has changed” section.

Measure limitations

This rural classification designates all areas with housing and population density that fall outside of a census-defined urban area as rural.3

There is no official, agreed upon definition or classification of rural and urban areas and there are more than a dozen federal definitions.2 Classifications exist at the county, zip-code, census tract, and census block group levels. As a result, some places can be classified as rural by one classification and urban by another. This leads to different conclusions about the conditions of rural places.

Finding More Data

Disaggregation means breaking data down into smaller, meaningful subgroups. Disaggregated data are often broken down by characteristics of people or where they live. Disaggregated data can reveal inequalities that are otherwise hidden. These data can be disaggregated by:

  • Subcounty Area

Data and information on urban and rural populations can be found on the U.S. Census Bureau Urban and Rural reference page.

References

  1. Long JC, Delamater PL, Holmes GM. Which definition of rurality should I use?: The relative performance of 8 federal rural definitions in identifying rural-urban disparities. Medical Care. 2021;59(10 Suppl 5):413-419. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8428861/
  2. Center on Rural Innovation. Defining rural America: The consequences of how we count. 2022. https://ruralinnovation.us/blog/defining-rural-america/#defining-rural-america-3
  3. Urban and Rural. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/urban-rural.html