What is "Rural"?
Depends on who you ask. There are many rural-urban classification schemes, each with their own purpose and way of defining “rural”. The resources below explain the differences and describe things to consider when selecting a definition.
Defining Rural for Wisconsin – A discussion of how different definitions are used for different decisions.
Putting Rural Wisconsin on the Map – A WisCONTEXT article describing how defining rural can help us better understand rural-urban differences.
Wisconsin Divided Ten Ways: A Review of Rural-Urban Classification Systems – A report defining rural Wisconsin according to ten commonly-used classification systems.
Appendices:
Appendix A – County Classifications
Appendix B – Census Tract Classifications
Appendix C – ZIP Code Classifications
Appendix D – Municipal Classifications
Am I Rural? – The Rural Health Information Hub’s Am I Rural? tool can be used to determine whether a specific location is considered rural based on multiple definitions.
Municipal-level Urban-Rural Classification (MURC) – MURC was developed by the Office of Rural Health to identify the level of rurality of each of Wisconsin’s 1,850 cities, towns, and villages.
