Rural Definitions
There are four main definitions of rural. Clicking on each of the names below will let you download an Adobe Acrobat map of Oregon with the rural areas highlighted. Zoom into any of our Adobe Acrobat maps by using the magnifying glass tool on your Acrobat Reader toolbar.
- Census Bureau Urban/Rural(updated 10/31/05)
- Based on census block groups and census blocks
- Urbanized Area (UA):
- Consists of contiguous, densely settled census block groups (BG) and census blocks (at least 500 people per square mile) that together encompass a population of more than 50,000.
- Urban Cluster (UC):
- Consists of contiguous, densely settled BGs and census blocks (500 ppsm) that together encompasses a population of at least 2,500 people but less than 50,000 people.
- What is Rural:
- All population and territory that is not a UA or UC
- Update Status
- Current methodology circa 2002
- Population numbers based on 2000 Census
- Update decennially
- Health Policy Use:
- Clinics located outside of "Urbanized Areas" are geographically eligible for Rural Health Clinic designation.
For more information visit The Census Bureau web page on urban and rural classification.
- Office of Management and Budget MSA - Metro/Micropolitan/Nonmetro (updated 7/11/03)
- County-based
- Definitions of Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA):
- A county with at least one Census Bureau-defined Urbanized Area (UA) of 50,000 or more population
- Outlying counties that have a commuting rate of 15% or over to central counties
- Definition of Micropolitan Statistical Areas
- A county that has at least one Census Bureau-defined Urban Cluster (UC) of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000 population
- Adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties
- Counties not MSAs or Micropolitan are Nonmetro
- Update Status
- Current methodology circa 2000
- Population numbers from Census 2000
- Updated sporadically
- Health Policy Use:
- Used to categorize hospitals as either rural or urban for purposes of Medicare reimbursement
- Medicare will not begin to use current definition (where Deschutes is an MSA) until FY2005
For more information visit www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metroarea.html
- RUCA (Rural-Urban Commuting Areas) by WWAMI Rural Health Research Center (updated 2/13/2007)
- Based on census tracts/zip codes
- 30 categories according to size and commuting patterns:
- Metro area Core (>50,000)
- Metro area, high commute
- Metro area, low commute
- Large town Core (10,000-49,999)
- Large town, high commute
- Large town, low commute
- Small town core (2,500-9,999)
- Small town, high commute
- Small town, low commute
- Rural area (<2,500)
- Update Status
- Current methodology circa 1990
- Population numbers based on 2000 Census
- RUCA Version 2.0 updated on July 2005
- Health Policy Use:
- Areas categorized 4-10 are eligible for grants issued by FORHP (Federal Office of Rural Health Policy):
- Rural Health Outreach
- Network Development
- Rural Automated External Defibrillators Grant Program
- Areas categorized 4-10 are eligible for grants issued by FORHP (Federal Office of Rural Health Policy):
For more information visit http://depts.washington.edu/uwruca/index.html
- Oregon Office of Rural Health Urban/Rural Map. (updated 6/13/08)
- Based on distance
- Definition of rural: All geographic areas 10 or more miles from the centroid of a population center of 40,000 or more
- Update Status
- Current methodology circa 1990
- Population numbers based on 2007 data by Portland State University Population Research Center (http://www.pdx.edu/prc/)
- Updated every year
- Health Policy Use
- Oregon physician tax credit qualification
- Rural areas only are included in Unmet Healthcare Need determination. Unmet Need areas qualify for loan repayment.
- Critical Access Hospital qualification—ORH definition overrides Goldsmith.
- Medical Malpractice Re-Insurance Program qualification
See a table on how these different definitions of "Rural" affect healthcare policy.
