Rural Urban Classification
Definition of rural areas using the Rural Urban Classification.
Wherever possible, the Rural Urban Classification is used to distinguish rural and urban areas. The Classification defines areas as rural if they fall outside of settlements with more than 10,000 resident population. For the smallest geography areas, the classification assigns them to one of four urban or six rural categories:
- Rural: Hamlets and Isolated Dwellings
- Rural: Hamlets and Isolated Dwellings in a sparse setting
- Rural: Village
- Rural: Village in a sparse setting
- Rural: Town and Fringe
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Rural: Town and Fringe in a sparse setting
- Urban: City and Town
- Urban: City and Town in a sparse setting
- Urban: Minor Conurbation
- Urban: Major Conurbation
Those described as “in a sparse setting” reflect where the wider area is remotely populated.
When data are not available at a small enough geographical scale, it may be possible to apply the Rural Urban Local Authority Classification. This classification categorises districts and unitary authorities on a six point scale, based on the share of the resident population that resides in rural areas. The six categories are:
- Mainly Rural (80% or more of the population resides in rural areas)
- Largely Rural (Between 50% and 79% of the population resides in rural areas)
- Urban with Significant Rural (Between 26% and 49% of the population resides in rural areas)
- Urban City and Town
- Urban with Minor Conurbation
- Urban with Major Conurbation
Lookup tables have been produced to ease the use of the 2011 Rural Urban Classification for all geographies in further analyses. Each lookup table consists of a spreadsheet with the full list of areas for each geography and both of the accompanying detailed and simple 2011 Rural Urban Classification.
Rural urban analysis of the 2011 Census is available for a wide range of Census data via the Office for National Statistics. A guide on how to access the data is provided with the Practical guides for using the 2011 Rural Urban Classification.
A more contemporary compendium of statistics using the 2011 Rural Urban Classification is produced as the Statistical Digest of Rural England
2011 Census rural urban classification
2001 Census rural urban classification
Other resources
Updates to this page
Published 21 July 2016Last updated 26 August 2021 + show all updates
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Additional description of RUC in page description. Reorganised the 2011 Rural Classification guidance documents. Added lookup tables for the rural classification for both small area geographies, local authority districts and other higher geographies.
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First published.