| Code | Description |
| Metro counties: | |
| 0 | Central counties of metro areas of 1 million population or more. |
| 1 | Fringe counties of metro areas of 1 million population or more. |
| 2 | Counties in metro areas of 250,000 to 1 million population. |
| 3 | Counties in metro areas of fewer than 250,000 population. |
| Nonmetro counties: | |
| 4 | Urban population of 20,000 or more, adjacent to a metro area. |
| 5 | Urban population of 20,000 or more, not adjacent to a metro area. |
| 6 | Urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, adjacent to a metro area. |
| 7 | Urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, not adjacent to a metro area. |
| 8 | Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, adjacent to a metro area. |
| 9 | Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, not adjacent to a metro area. |
Note: New Rural-Urban Continuum Codes based on the 2000 Census are not expected to be available until 2003. The development of the updated codes requires journey-to-work commuting data from the long form of the 2000 Census and delineation of the new metropolitan area boundaries by the Office of Management and Budget. OMB's work is not scheduled to be completed until 2003.
For further info or to download databases of codes go to http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/rurality/RuralUrbCon/
Rural Populations and Health Care Providers A Map Book Randy K. Randolph, Katherine Gaul, Rebecca T. Slifkin http://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/research_programs/rural_program/mapbook2003/index.html