Defining Rural and Accessing Rural Data: U.S. Census Bureau

1. Federal agencies are inconsistent in their definition of the term rural.  2. Depending upon which agency definition is used, the potential exists to incorrectly categorize approximately 13 million Americans as either... [ view full abstract ]

1. Federal agencies are inconsistent in their definition of the term rural.  2. Depending upon which agency definition is used, the potential exists to incorrectly categorize approximately 13 million Americans as either urban or rural area residents.   This can have a significant impact on grant applications, funding decisions and research.   3. The U.S. Census Bureau’s “negative definition” of rural is that it is ‘what is not urban.’  Rural is what’s left after urban areas are defined!   3. I will define the Census Bureau’s definition of urban, so that an understanding of the definition of rural is easy to deduce.  I will then present the most current (2016) social and economic data from the American Community Survey, comparing and contrasting differences in the social and economic characteristics of rural and urban populations.   4.  Participants will gain a better understanding of the Census Bureau’s definition of the term rural and a firm reference point when comparing it to the definitions of other agencies.   This will lead to a better understanding of the requirements for grants and funding in rural research, and improve the ability to articulate the concept of rural in research and in the classroom.