In general, “rural” refers to places outside of a city, or as HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration puts it: “Whatever is not urban is considered rural.” But that leaves out areas such as the suburbs or mostly-rural counties with one city center. The federal government uses more than 15 different definitions for “rural,” according to the Rural Policy Research Institute. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines it as a county that does not have an urban core of 50,000 people, so it could include areas with some denser “micropolitan” areas. The U.S. Census Bureau, however, does not use county or other borders, and defines rural as any area that falls outside one with 50,000 or more people or one with a densely settled core of between 2,500 and 49,999 people. Whether an area is classified as rural can impact health policy, for example in determining eligibility for certain grants.
