Regional Data Book Addendum
The following addendum is provided for our 2023 Regional Data Book to ensure accuracy and completeness. This addendum addresses corrections and updates to the data presented in the original publication. Users are encouraged to incorporate this information to understand the dataset better.
This addendum replaces the information in Chapter 2, section “The Population in Rural and Urban Areas” on pages 15 & 16. This update addresses corrections stemming from a change in the definition of urban population in the 2020 Census.
Before the 2020 Census, the Census used to define urban as:
- Urbanized Areas (UAs) of 50,000 or more people
- Urban Clusters (UCs) of 2,500 - 49,999 people
Since the 2020 Census, there have been three key changes to the Census Bureau’s urban area concept and criteria:
- The minimum population threshold was increased to qualify as urban from 2,500 to 5,000, and an alternative was added: instead of qualifying based on population size, areas can now qualify based on a minimum housing unit
- Housing unit density is used instead of population
- Different types of urban areas are no longer
With the new criteria, an area must encompass at least 5,000 people or at least 2,000 housing units to qualify as urban. The minimum number of people is an increase from the former threshold of 2,500 people, which had been used since 1910. The” 2,000 housing units” was chosen as the alternative threshold because it’s consistent with the 5,000 people threshold. Specifically, if you multiply 2,000 by 2.5 (the nationwide average of people per housing unit), it also equals 5,000.