overview
The 2003 urban influence codes form a classification scheme that distinguishes metropolitan counties by size and nonmetropolitan counties by size of the largest city or town and proximity to metro and micro areas. The standard Office of Management and Budget (OMB) metro and nonmetro categories have been subdivided into two metro and 10 nonmetro categories, resulting in a 12-part county codification. This scheme was originally developed in 1993. This scheme allows researchers to break county data into finer residential groups, beyond metro and nonmetro, particularly for the analysis of trends in nonmetro areas that are related to population density and metro influence. See the urban influence code chapter in the measuring rurality briefing room for more information.

data files

• Lookup the 2003 code for a county
• Lookup the 1993 code for a county

• Download the 1993 and 2003 codes in an Excel file

release date
November 2003

instructions/helpful hints
The 2003 urban influence codes are not directly comparable with the codes from previous years because of the new methodology used in developing the 2003 metropolitan areas.

related resources

• More information about the urban influence codes
• What is rural?
• What is a micropolitan area?
• Measuring rurality briefing room
• Rural-urban continuum codes
• Metropolitan and micropolitan area definitions at the Census Bureau

for more information, contact: Linda Ghelfi or Tim Parker
web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov
page updated: November 16, 2003