demographics_geographic_classification_county
Federal geographic classification, one row per US county (A6). metro_status (central_metro/outlying_metro/micropolitan/noncore_rural) and the cbsa_* fields come from the OMB 2023 CBSA delineation; rucc_code (1-9) from USDA ERS Rural-Urban Continuum Codes 2023. nchs_urb_rural_code is a DERIVED 6-level approximation of the NCHS 2013 Urban-Rural scheme computed from OMB + RUCC — NOT the published NCHS file; the large-central vs large-fringe split is proxied from OMB central/outlying. Fully populated for all 3,222 counties including Connecticut's 2022 planning regions. Tier A.
overview
All 3,222 US counties. Loaded from OMB CBSA delineations, USDA RUCC, and NCHS urban-rural classification.
current vintage — OMB CBSA: 2023; USDA RUCC: 2023; NCHS: 2013
history — OMB CBSA: 2003, 2013, 2018, 2020, 2023; USDA RUCC: 1974, 1983, 1993, 2003, 2013, 2023
source & licensing
fields
| name | type | definition |
|---|---|---|
| cbsa_central_outlying | string | Indicates whether the county is the 'Central' or 'Outlying' county of its CBSA per the OMB 2023 delineation. NULL for noncore counties. |
| cbsa_code | string | 5-character OMB Core-Based Statistical Area code identifying the metro or micropolitan area containing the county. NULL for noncore (non-CBSA) counties.Joins dim.cbsas on cbsa_code. |
| cbsa_title | string | Official OMB CBSA title for the area containing the county (e.g. 'Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA'). NULL for noncore counties. |
| country_idkey | string | ISO alpha-2 country code (always 'US' for domestic tables).Part of primary key. |
| county_idkey | string | 5-character FIPS code identifying the county.Part of primary key. Joins dim.counties on county_id. |
| county_name | string | Human-readable county name corresponding to county_id. |
| csa_code | string | 3-character OMB Combined Statistical Area code, present where the county's CBSA is part of a larger CSA. NULL where the CBSA does not belong to a CSA or the county is noncore. |
| metro_status | string | OMB 2023 CBSA-based metropolitan classification: 'central_metro' or 'outlying_metro' (county is the central or outlying county of a Metropolitan Statistical Area), 'micropolitan' (in a Micropolitan Statistical Area), or 'noncore_rural' (not in any CBSA). |
| nchs_urb_rural_code | int64 | DERIVED approximation of the NCHS 2013 6-level Urban-Rural Classification (1 = Large central metro … 6 = Noncore), computed from OMB metro_status and USDA RUCC rather than the published NCHS file. The large-central vs large-fringe distinction is proxied from the OMB central/outlying designation. Lower values indicate more urban counties. |
| nchs_urb_rural_description | string | Human-readable label for the derived nchs_urb_rural_code (e.g. 'Large central metro', 'Noncore'). |
| rucc_code | int64 | USDA ERS Rural-Urban Continuum Code (2023 edition), an integer 1–9. Metro codes 1–3 are ordered by metro-area population size; nonmetro codes 4–9 are ordered by urbanization level and adjacency to a metro area. Lower values indicate more urban, more populous counties. |
| rucc_description | string | Human-readable label for the rucc_code category (e.g. 'Metro - Counties in metro areas of 1 million population or more'). |
| state_idkey | string | 2-character FIPS code identifying the state.Part of primary key. Joins dim.states on state_id. |
joins
how to use this table
OMB CBSA assigns counties to metropolitan/micropolitan statistical areas based on commuting patterns from decennial census. USDA RUCC classifies counties on 1-9 scale by population and metro adjacency. NCHS classifies counties on 6-level urban-rural typology.
Sub-county urban/rural classification (use Census urban areas); current-year boundaries when CBSA delineations have changed.
CBSA delineations change every few years - rural-to-metro transitions create discontinuities in any time series.