Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (Beale Codes, USDA) Code Description Metro counties: Counties in metro areas of 1 million population or more Counties in metro areas of 250,000 to 1 million population Counties in metro areas of fewer than 250,000 population Nonmetro counties: Urban population of 20,000 or more, adjacent to a metro area Urban population of 20,000 or more, not adjacent to a metro area Urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, adjacent to a metro area Urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, not adjacent to a metro area Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, adjacent to a metro area Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, not adjacent to a metro area