The rural-urban commuting area codes (RUCA) classify U.S. census tracts using measures of urbanization, population density, and daily commuting from the decennial census. The most recent RUCA codes are based on data from the 2000 decennial census. The classification contains two levels. Whole numbers (1-10) delineate metropolitan, micropolitan, small town, and rural commuting areas based on the size and direction of the primary (largest) commuting flows. These 10 codes are further subdivided to permit stricter or looser delimitation of commuting areas, based on secondary (second largest) commuting flows. The approach errs in the direction of more codes, providing flexibility in combining levels to meet varying definitional needs and preferences. The 1990 codes are similarly defined. However, the Census Bureau's methods of defining urban cores and clusters changed between the two censuses. And, census tracts changed in number and shapes. The 2000 rural-urban commuting codes are not directly comparable with the 1990 codes because of these differences. An update of the Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes is planned for late 2013.

This dataset was created for the Appalachia Ohio GIS Collaborative Hub by taking the 2020 Census TIGER/Line Tract boundaries and ZIP Code boundaries, filtered for Ohio, and joining them to the 2020 USDA Rural Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) Codes tables downloaded from the USDA. RUCA codes are a classification scheme allowing for flexible, census tract and ZIP code delineation of rural and urban areas throughout the United States and its territories. There are two layers in this dataset, census tracts and ZIP codes. By default they are symbolized by the Primary RUCA code. Both layers include Primary and Secondary RUCA codes. The census tract layer additionally includes the Urban Area Cluster associated with a tract, the Urban Core Type, primary and secondary commuting destinations, population, and population density. More detail about attributes can be found in the description for each layer.2020 Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) CodesThe USDA, Economic Research Service’s (ERS) Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes are a classification scheme allowing for flexible, census tract delineation of rural and urban areas throughout the United States and its territories. RUCA codes were designed to address a major limitation associated with county-based classifications; they are often too large to accurately delineate boundaries between rural and urban areas. The more geographically-detailed information provided by RUCA codes can be used to improve rural research and policy—such as addressing concerns that remote, rural communities in large metropolitan counties are not eligible for some rural assistance programs.The RUCA codes consist of two levels. The primary RUCA codes establish urban cores and the census tracts that are the most economically integrated with those cores through commuting. The secondary RUCA codes indicate whether a census tract has a strong secondary connection (through commuting) to an even larger urban core. This two-level structure provides flexibility in combining levels to meet varying definitional needs and preferences. The RUCA codes were created using census tract data and were subsequently adapted to ZIP codes.The tables used for the joins were the USDA 2020 Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes, census tracts table and the 2020 Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes, ZIP codes table. Both were marked as last updated 7/31/2025, and are available for download from https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-commuting-area-codes. Tables used for join were downloaded 9/25/2025.

Census tracts with 4, 5, 6 and 10 tier classifications. We'll be adding 2020 data when its available from the USDA or the Census.From Asnake Hailu,The schemes shared in the RUCAGuide.pdf are DOH modified layers, prepared merely for epidemiological purposes [I.e., to delineate geography for a comprehensive epidemiologic assessment, describing rural-urban differences in demographics, health outcomes, risk factors, access to services, and the like.] Those are not as such rural/urban designation tools for census block areas, nor for any of the other geography categories. The files with the DOH modified layers are available at https://doh.wa.gov/public-health-healthcare-providers/rural-health/data-maps-and-other-resources under the sub-county level: Zip Code and Census Tract sub-heading.Please note: those files are essentially a decade old. We were anticipating to update our core products that are on our website, if and when the Federal Office of Rural Health and Policy (FORHP) produces a newer version of RUCA codes based on census 2020. The FORHP customarily contracts with a university for that task. We are three years away from 2020, except there is no update posted on the webpage I am familiar to get the original RUCA delineations. Here is a path where I go to check for the newer version: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-commuting-area-codes/

This dataset contains two measures designed to be used in tandem to characterize United States census tracts, originally developed for use in stratified analyses of the Diabetes Location, Environmental Attributes, and Disparities (LEAD) Network. The first measure is a 2010 tract-level community type categorization based on a modification of Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) Codes that incorporates census-designated urban areas and tract land area, with five categories: higher density urban, lower density urban, suburban/small town, rural, and undesignated (McAlexander, et al., 2022). The second measure is a neighborhood social and economic environment (NSEE) score, a community-type stratified z-score sum of 6 US census-derived variables, with sums scaled between 0 and 100, computed for the year 2000 and 2010. A tract with a higher NSEE z-score sum indicates more socioeconomic disadvantage compared to a tract with a lower z-score sum. Analysts should not compare NSEE scores across LEAD community types, as values have been computed and scaled within community type.