Rural population includes persons living in the open country or in towns of less than 2,500 people. It is subdivided in the rural farm population which comprises all rural residents living on farms, and the rural non farm population which includes the remaining rural population.

means a geographic area which has not been classified by a committee as suburban or urban and shall include: Lands zoned primarily for farm or forestry uses; Lands which have an average tax lot size of 10 acres or larger; Lands not zoned to allow a concentration of structures; and Lands which do not contain a concentration of structures.

The Bureau of the Census defines the rural population (in contrast to urban) as all persons living in the open country, plus those in places of less than 2,500 inhabitants that are beyond the densely settled (1,000 or more persons per square mile) suburban fringes of metropolitan cities. However, the Rural Development Act of 1972 defines rural as any area not included in any city or town with a population in excess of 10,000 inhabitants.

(Population) Rural is a type-of-area concept rather than a specific area outlined on a map. As defined by the Census Bureau, an urban population comprises all persons living in urbanized areas (UA's) and in places 2,500 or more inhabitants outside UA's. The rural population consists of everyone else. Therefore, a rural classification need not imply farm residence or a sparsely settled area, since a small city or town is rural as long as it is outside a UA and has fewer than 2,500 inhabitants.