Knowledgebase

Urban and Rural Counties

The UrbanInfluence field is included in the 2003 County Lookup file. It is based on a typology from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and provides a 9 categories covering the rural - suburban - urban continuum.

Urban Influence documentation from the Department of Agriculture is at:

- http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Rurality/UrbanInf/

- Additional documentation at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/TypologyCodes/

- Definition of micropolitan area: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Rurality/MicropolitanAreas/

The data dictionary, with documentation of the codes, can be found below:

http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/PubApps/dd2.php?form=FIPS+Counties+2003 (Note: This link must be pasted into your browser.)