Notes
Rural/urban classifications
Classification systems
Government data sources do not use a consistent rural/area classification system. Broadly speaking, the sources used by this website can be divided into four groups:
- Classification system is available, whereby all the data is classified according to the Government's 2004 classification system for small areas (see below). However, only two sources provide this, namely the British Crime Survey and the English Housing Survey.
- Classification system is available in principle but not in practice, either because the relevant data in the publicly available dataset is suppressed for supposed data confidentiality reasons (e.g. the Labour Force Survey and associated Annual Population Survey) or because the method of classification is neither clear nor documented (e.g. the Health Survey for England).
- A less than optimal classification system is derivable: many sources provide data by local authority and this can be used to analyse rural/urban differences using the DEFRA 2009 classification system (see below).
- No classification system is possible: where data is only obtainable via Government publications rather than from the underlying detailed data, it is usually not possible to undertake any rural/urban analyses.
In this context, the indicators in this website define 'rural' areas in a variety of different ways, with the selection determined by data availability.
The government's preferred level of rural/urban classification is at a small area level. Its 2004 classification system for small areas classifies a small area as 'urban' if the majority of its population live within settlements of more than 10,000 people and as 'rural' if this is not the case. Within the rural category, there is a further subdivision into 'town and fringe', village' and 'hamlets and isolated dwellings', giving an overall 4-way classification system. This is a slight simplification. First, as well as this 4-way classification based on settlement size, there is a 2-way classification ('sparse' or 'less sparse' based on population density, giving an overall 8-way classification system. Second, there are actually two levels of small area (see the page on levels of geography): the definition in the main text is for the lowest level (output area); at the next level up (lower super output area or ward), the area is classified as 'urban' if the majority of output areas within it are classified as 'urban' and as 'rural' if this is not the case.
In principle, all the national survey datasets could include the small area rural/urban classification system, based on each household's address. In practice, however, this is not typically done, with the only overt exceptions being the British Crime Survey and the English Housing Survey The small area classification in the English Housing Survey is actually only available for data from 2006 onwards. Furthermore, for reasons that are not clear, the survey data also includes an alternative - and conflicting - rural/urban classification system, whereby the surveyor of the property allocates it to one six possible categories, three of which are rural..
Rather, what many data sources record is the lower tier local authority (district councils, unitary authorities, metropolitan boroughs and London boroughs), often referred to as local authority district. Using the DEFRA 2009 classification system The 2009 methodology is very similar, but not identical, to the 2005 methodology used prior to April 2009., each lower tier authority is classified as one of:
- 'Very rural'': if 80% or more of their population live in either rural settlements or market towns, where a 'rural settlement' is any settlement of less than 10,000 people and a 'market town' is a settlement of between 10,000 and 30,000 people which provides certain functions and services to its wider rural hinterland. DEFRA uses the term 'rural-80' for this group.
- 'Mostly rural'': if between 50% and 80% of their population live in rural settlements or market towns. DEFRA use the term 'rural-50' for this group.
- 'Part rural'': if between 26% and 50% of their population live in rural settlements or market towns. DEFRA uses the term 'significant rural' for this group.
- 'Major urban': if not any of the above but either at least 50% or at least 100,000 of their population live in an urban area with a total population of 750,000 or more.
- 'Large urban': if not any of the above but either at least 50% or at least 50,000 of their population live in an urban area with a total population of 250,000 or more.
- 'Other urban': if not any of the above.
In most of the graphs on this website, the 'major urban', 'large urban' and 'other urban' districts are then amalgamated into a single 'urban' category.
Where it is not possible to use lower tier local authority designations, upper tier local authority classifications have sometimes had to be used. This is, for example, the case for social service statistics given that social services is an upper tier (e.g. county) rather than lower tier (e.g. district) responsibility. Each upper tier authority is classified as: 'very rural', 'mostly rural', 'part rural' or urban using the same definitions as above (but with the three urban categories all grouped together).
These differing classification systems illustrate that there is no single 'correct' rural-urban classification. In fact, there are at least three types of decision involved in any classification: Anyone interested in a more detailed discussion of some of these issues may want to read the technical documentation associated with the DEFRA 2009 classification system.
- 'Level of magnification': as discussed above, the ideal would be small area classifications but most data is only classified at the lower tier local authority level.
- 'Method of identification' - i.e. how to decide whether an area should be classified as rural or urban. The size of the settlement is the main starting point, but, as per the discussion above, the lower tier local authority classifications involve a variety of other rules.
- 'Strictness of definition' - i.e. where to set the cut-off point between rural and urban. The lower tier local authority classifications involve a cut-off point which results in two-thirds of the population being in the urban categories and one-third being in the various rural categories.
Another implication of the discussion above is that urban/rural classifications are determined by the classification of the majority of the population in the area and there may well be a significant proportion of the population in the area who are in the opposite classification. So, for example, a 'rural area' may well contain many 'urban people' and vice versa. This inevitably tends to lessen any observed differences in statistics between types of area.
Lower tier local authority classifications (districts)
As listed in the DEFRA 2009 classification system.
| 'Very rural' | 'Mostly rural' | 'Part rural' | Urban |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Allerdale Babergh Breckland Chichester Copeland Cornwall Formed in 2009 from Caradon, Carrick, Kerrier, North Cornwall, Penwith and Restormel Cotswold Craven Daventry Derbyshire Dales East Cambridgeshire East Lindsey Eden Fenland Forest Heath Forest of Dean Hambleton Harborough Huntingdonshire Isle of Wight Isles of Scilly Maldon Melton Mendip Mid Devon Mid Suffolk Mid Sussex North Dorset North Kesteven North Norfolk Purbeck Ribble Valley Richmondshire Rutland Ryedale Selby South Cambridgeshire South Hams South Holland South Lakeland South Norfolk South Northamptonshire South Oxfordshire Stratford-on-Avon Suffolk Coastal Teignbridge Torridge Uttlesford Wealden West Devon West Dorset West Lindsey West Oxfordshire West Somerset Wychavon |
Aylesbury Vale Bassetlaw Braintree Central Bedfordshire Formed in 2009 from Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire Cheshire East Formed in 2009 from Congleton, Crewe & Nantwich and Macclesfield Dover Durham Formed in 2009 from Chester-le-Street, Derwentside, Durham, Easington, Sedgefield, Teesdale and Wear Valley East Devon East Dorset East Hampshire East Northamptonshire East Riding of Yorkshire Herefordshire High Peak Horsham King's Lynn and West Norfolk Lewes Lichfield Malvern Hills Newark and Sherwood North Devon North East Derbyshire North Lincolnshire North Somerset North Warwickshire North West Leicestershire Northumberland Formed in 2009 from Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Blyth Valley, Castle Morpeth, Tynedale and Wansbeck Rother Rushcliffe Sedgemoor Sevenoaks Shropshire Formed in 2009 from Bridgnorth, North Shropshire, Oswestry, Shrewsbury & Atcham and South Shropshire South Bucks South Kesteven South Somerset St. Edmundsbury Staffordshire Moorlands Stroud Tandridge Tendring Test Valley Tewkesbury Tonbridge and Malling Vale of White Horse Waverley West Lancashire Wiltshire Formed in 2009 from Kennet, North Wiltshire, Salisbury and West Wiltshire Winchester |
Amber Valley Ashford Basingstoke and Deane Bath and NE Somerset Bedford Bolsover Boston Brentwood Broadland Bromsgrove Calderdale Cannock Chase Carlisle Cherwell Cheshire West and Chester Formed in 2009 from Chester, Ellesmere Port & Neston and Vale Royal Chiltern Chorley 'Large urban' prior to 2009 Colchester Dacorum 'Major urban' prior to 2009 East Hertfordshire East Staffordshire Eastleigh 'Large urban' prior to 2009 Epping Forest 'Major urban' prior to 2009 Fylde 'Large urban' prior to 2009 Great Yarmouth Guildford Harrogate Hart Hertsmere Hinckley and Bosworth Kettering Lancaster Maidstone Mole Valley 'Major urban' prior to 2009 New Forest North Hertfordshire Redcar and Cleveland 'Large urban' prior to 2009 Rugby Scarborough Shepway South Derbyshire South Staffordshire St. Albans Stafford Swale Taunton Deane Tunbridge Wells Wakefield 'Major urban' prior to 2009 Warwick Waveney Wellingborough West Berkshire Wycombe Wyre 'Large urban' prior to 2009 Wyre Forest |
'Major
urban'
Barking and DagenhamBarnet Bexley Birmingham Bolton Bradford Brent Bromley Broxbourne Bury Camden City of London Croydon Dartford Dudley Ealing Elmbridge Enfield Epsom and Ewell Gateshead Gravesham Greenwich Hackney Hammersmith and Fulham Haringey Harrow Havering Hillingdon Hounslow Islington Kensington and Chelsea Kingston-upon-Thames Kirklees Knowsley Lambeth Leeds Lewisham Liverpool Manchester Merton Newcastle upon Tyne Newham North Tyneside Oldham Redbridge Richmond-upon-Thames Rochdale Runnymede Salford Sandwell Sefton Solihull South Tyneside Southwark Spelthorne St. Helens Stockport Sunderland Sutton Tameside Three Rivers Tower Hamlets Trafford Walsall Waltham Forest Wandsworth Watford Westminster Wigan Woking Wolverhampton 'Large
urban'
AdurArun Blaby Blackpool Bournemouth Bracknell Forest Brighton and Hove Bristol Broxtowe Castle Point Christchurch Coventry Erewash Fareham Gedling Gosport Havant Kingston-upon-Hull Leicester Middlesbrough Newcastle-under-Lyme Nottingham Oadby and Wigston Poole Portsmouth Preston Reading Rochford Rotherham Sheffield South Gloucestershire South Ribble Southampton Southend-on-Sea Stockton-on-Tees Stoke-on-Trent Wirral Wokingham Worthing 'Other
urban'
AshfieldBarnsley 'Part rural' prior to 2009 Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Blackburn with Darwen Burnley Cambridge Canterbury Charnwood 'Part rural' prior to 2009 Chelmsford 'Part rural' prior to 2009 Cheltenham Chesterfield Corby Crawley Darlington Doncaster 'Part rural' prior to 2009 Derby Eastbourne Exeter Gloucester Halton Harlow Hartlepool Hastings Hyndburn Ipswich Lincoln Luton Mansfield Medway Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire Northampton Norwich Nuneaton and Bedworth Oxford Pendle Peterborough Plymouth Redditch Reigate and Banstead Rossendale Rushmoor Slough Stevenage Surrey Heath Swindon Tamworth Telford and Wrekin Thanet Thurrock Torbay Warrington Welwyn Hatfield Weymouth and Portland Windsor and Maidenhead Worcester York |
Upper tier local authority classifications
Where the upper tier authority is also a lower tier authority (i.e. unitary authorities, London and metropolitan boroughs)
The allocation to 'very rural', 'mostly rural', part rural' and 'urban' is as per that for the lower tier classifications above.
Where the upper tier authority is a grouping of lower tier authorities (i.e. a county)
| 'Very rural' | 'Mostly rural' | 'Part rural' | Urban |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly |
Cambridgeshire Cumbria Devon Dorset Lincolnshire Norfolk North Yorkshire Oxfordshire Somerset Suffolk |
Buckinghamshire Derbyshire East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Northamptonshire Nottinghamshire Staffordshire Warwickshire |
Hertfordshire Surrey |
In practice, these allocations mean that the only upper tier authority that is classified as 'very rural' is Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly because all of the 'very rural' lower tier authorities are combined with other authorities at the upper tier level. For example, the 'very rural' lower tier authorities of Craven, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Ryedale and Selby are combined with the 'part rural' Harrogate and Scarborough to form the 'mostly rural' North Yorkshire upper tier authority. Because of its consequent very small population, 'very rural' is therefore not shown on the any of the upper tier graphs.
Data sources
Rural/urban analyses can be undertaken using most of the major surveys, the main limitation being that the Labour Force Survey does not have any rural/urban codes and its substitute for work-related statistics - the Annual Population Survey - only goes back to 2004. The table below provides some summary information about some of these sources.
| Subject area | Data source | Rural/urban classification | Earliest data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income | Households Below Average Income dataset | Districts | 1994/95 |
| Work | Annual Population Survey | Districts | 2004 |
| Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, DWP | Districts | 2000 | |
| Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings | Districts | 2002 | |
| Geographical Analyses, HM Revenue & Customs (tax credits) | Districts | 2003 | |
| Education | English National Pupil Database | Districts | 2002 |
| Department for Education publications | Upper tier local authorities | Varies by subject | |
| Health | Key population and vital statistics, ONS | Districts | 1998 |
| Conception statistics, ONS | Districts | 2001 | |
| Mortality Statistics Division, ONS | Districts | 1991 | |
| Housing | Stock data from the English Housing Survey | Small area urban/rural classifications | 2006 The data for 2005 and earlier uses a related, but different, classification system, whose formulation is not documented. |
| Household data from the English Housing Survey | Small area urban/rural classifications | 2008/09 The data for 2007/08 and earlier includes the district only. | |
| DCLG Statutory Homelessness Statistical Releases | Districts | 2003 | |
| Services | Family Resources Survey | Districts | 1994/95 |
| Commission for Social Care Inspection performance assessment framework (PAF) reports | Upper tier local authorities | 2004/05 | |
| Social cohesion | British Crime Survey | Small area urban/rural classifications | 2000 |