Table 1.

United States census definitions of “urban” and “rural,” 2000 and 1990

Definition	Urban	Rural
2000 Census	Territory, persons and housing units located within an urbanized area (UA) or an urban cluster (UC). UAs & UCs consist of core census block groups or blocks that have a population density of at least 1,000 persons per square mile and	Territory, population, and housing units located outside of UAs and UCs
	Surrounding census blocks that have an overall density of at least 500 people per square mile. UAs have a minimum total population of 50,000, while UCs may be 2,500–49,999 in population.	For sample data Census products, rural is subdivided into:
		Farm (a residence that earned ≥$1,000 in agricultural product sales in 1999, at least one acre in size)
		Non-farm (a residence that earned less or did not earn from agricultural sales)
1990 Census	Territory, persons and housing units in places of 2,500 or more persons incorporated as cities, villages, boroughs (except in Alaska and New York) and towns (except in the six New England States, New York, and Wisconsin) excluding the rural portions of “extended cities” OR	Territory, population, and housing units not classified as urban.
	Census designated places of 2,500 or more persons, OR	For sample data Census products, rural is subdivided into:
	Other territory, incorporated or unincorporated, included in urbanized areas. UAs comprise one or more places (“central place”) and the adjacent densely settled surrounding territory (“urban fringe”) that together have a minimum of 50,000 persons.	Farm (a residence that earned ≥$1,000 in agricultural product sales in 1989, at least one acre in size)
		Non-farm (a residence that earned less or did not earn from agricultural sales)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Census.