OHIO POPULATION NEWS
Ohio’s Rural Population
August 2004
Figure 1: Map of Metro and Non Metro Ohio Counties,
2000.
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#
#
#
#
#
#
Akron
Toledo
Dayt on
Colu mbus
Clevela nd
Cinc innat i
Youngstown
Metro County
Non Metro
Adjacent
to Metro Area
Non Metro
NOT
Adjacent
to Metro Area
Rural County
are metro—40 out of 88. Twenty-nine are classified
as micropolitan, and the remaining 19 are nonmetro
noncore.
RURAL URBAN CONTINUUM CODES (RUC)
Another manner of defining urban and rural areas
are rural-urban continuum codes used by the USDA
Economic and Research Service (ERS) which
classify counties as metro and nonmetro but take
into account the degree of rurality. This
classification scheme distinguishes metro counties
b
ased on the population size of their metro area and
the nonmetro counties by the level of urbanization
and adjacency to metro areas. To be considered an
adjacent county, a nonmetro county must physically
adjoin one or more metro areas and have at least
two percent of its employed labor force commuting
to central metro counties. (Table 1).
Source: www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/rurality/ 2004-04
Close to a quarter of Ohio’s residents (2.6 million) reside in a
rural area according to the 2000 Census. For the Nation, the
p
ercentage of the population living in rural areas was slightly
less—21 percent. There are several ways in which researchers
and policymakers measure rurality. The Census Bureau uses a
rural-urban definition which defines urban as all those urbanized
areas with at least 50,000 people and other places with at least
2,500 people. In order to provide better data, the Census Bureau
began classifying all territory, population and housing units
located within an urbanized area (UA) or an urban cluster (UC)
as ‘urban’. Both UCs and UAs encompass densely settled
territory consisting of core block groups or blocks that have a
population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile and
surrounding blocks that have an overall density of at least 500
people per square mile. UAs have at least 50,000 people, and
UCs have between 2,500 and 49,999 people. Rural areas
consist of all areas outside of a UAs and UCs with fewer than
2,500 residents. The boundary lines for the new urban
distinctions are based on aggregates of blocks and block groups.
This means that even within geographic entities such as census
tracts, counties or places, the population and housing units they
contain may be classified as partly rural or partly urban. The
county in Ohio with the highest proportion of rural residents
is Monroe County located in Southern Ohio with 98 percent
of its residents living in areas classified as rural. The most
urban was Cuyahoga County with less than one percent of its
population living in a rural area. Across the nation Vermont had
the highest proportion (62 percent) of the population residing in
rural areas, and California had the least (6 percent).
Code Rural Urban Continuum Designation # of
Counties
#of
People in
Povert
y
Group
Poverty
Rate
Pct HS
Dropout
County in metro area with …
1 1 million population or more 18 531,281 10.2 16 .2
2 250,000 to 1 million population 15 329,185 10.7 16.1
3 fewer than 250,000 population 7 74,440 11.6 18.1
Nonmetro county with urban population of
4 20,000 or more, adjacent to a metro area 20 142,661 10.8 18.9
6 2,500-19,999, adjacent to a metro area 20 67,188 11.2 20.3
7 2,500-19,999, not adjacent to a metro area 6 21,329 10.8 25 .5
Nonmetro county completely rural or less
than 2,500 population …
8 Adjacent to metro area 1 2,085 13.9 21.2
9 Not adjacent to metro area 1 2,529 20.0 29.3
Ohio State Average 88 1,170,698 10.6 17.0
Note: In Ohio, there are no counties classified as (5)NonMetro with a population of 20,000 or more not adjacent to a metro
area.
Table 1: Poverty and Education by Rural Urban Continuum Codes, Ohio 2000
Sources Used: 2000 US Census, Economic and Research Service of the USDA.
METRO AND NON METRO COUNTIES
Another definition of rural and urban involves the classification
of metro and nonmetro counties. The Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) defines metro counties based on two
conditions—they are central counties with one or more
urbanized areas or they are outlying counties that are
economically tied to the core counties. Metro counties contain
a core area containin
g
a center alon
g
with ad
j
acent
communities that have a hi
g
h de
g
ree of economic and social
integration with that core. Counties are classified as
nonmetro if they are outside the boundaries of metro areas.
Nonmetro areas are divided into noncore counties and
micropolitan areas, which are centered on urban clusters of
10,000 or more residents. Just unde
r
half of Ohio’s counties
Non-Metro Counties in which over 20% of workers
commute to central counties of adjacent metro areas are
indicated b
y
the slanted lines
(
See Fi
g
ure 1
)
.
