Rural/Urban Population Numbers Shift as Census Bureau Adjusts Criteria

The proportion of US urban populations declined slightly from 2010 to 2020, while the proportion of US rural populations increased during the same period. Yet while the narrative is good news, the changes seem to be less about people moving in or out of rural and urban places and more about how the Census Bureau defines “rural.” Specifically, the Census Bureau:

• Increased from 2,500 to 5,000 people the population threshold at which a place moves from rural to urban;
• Decreased from 2.5 to 1.5 miles “jump distance,” which describes road lengths connecting urban areas with rural places, and
• Eliminated the separate “urbanized areas” and “urban cluster” categories. In sum, the Census Bureau changes tally more places as rural.