What Does Rural Mean? Uncle Sam Has More Than a Dozen Answers.
10th June 2013
All of these definitions matter; they’re used by various agencies to parcel out $37 billion-plus in federal money for “rural development.” And each one is different.
In one program, for instance, “rural” is defined as any place with fewer than 50,000 residents. So Lenoir is rural, and eligible for money. But in another, only towns smaller than 2,500 residents are “rural.” So Lenoir isn’t, and isn’t.
And so on. There are 11 definitions of “rural” in use within the U.S. Department of Agriculture alone.