Overview
The 2003 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes form a classification
scheme that distinguishes metropolitan counties by size and
nonmetropolitan counties by degree of urbanization and proximity to
metro areas. The standard Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
metro and nonmetro categories have been subdivided into three metro
and six nonmetro categories, resulting in a 9-part county
codification. This scheme was originally developed in 1974. The
codes were updated in 1983 and 1993, and slightly revised in 1988.
The 1988 revision was first published in 1990. This scheme allows
researchers to break county data into finer residential groups,
beyond metro and nonmetro, particularly for the analysis of trends
in nonmetro areas that are related to population density and metro
influence. Note that the 2003 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes are not
directly comparable with the codes from previous years because of
the new methodology used in developing the 2003 Metropolitan
areas.
An update of the Rural-Urban Continuum Codes is planned for
mid-2013.