Florida's Rural Counties: An Endangered Species, Federal Data Shows

CLEARWATER, FL — With its subdivisions, commercial centers, bustling downtown areas and tourist attractions, it probably comes as little surprise that Pinellas County is considered one of the most urban counties in the Sunshine State. What may surprise residents, however, is that Pinellas technically beats out Miami-Dade County for the percentage of its population living in urban settings, according to data released Thursday as part of the 2015 American Community Survey.

The data is based on five years of U.S. Census Bureau estimates on housing and poverty and how they relate to the rural and urban divide. As part of the survey, every community in the country is studied based on more than 40 topics, including education, housing, employment and more.

The research revealed notable differences between people living in rural and urban areas. Residents of rural areas are more likely to own their own homes and less likely to live in poverty. They're also more likely to have served in the military.

The census definition for "rural" is any area not considered urban. And the "urban" definition is set by standard measures, including population size and density and the amount of impervious surfaces (parking lots for example). There are exceptions for small airports (still rural) or large urban developments that may be separated from metro areas by large parks or nature preserves (still urban).

Of more than 3,100 counties, only 29 are completely urban — including Broward County, Florida — and 704 are completely rural, so most of us live in counties with some mix of the two. Many cities are completely urban.

Here are the Rurality Levels for the Tampa Bay area and surrounding counties, based on the percentage of the population living in areas designated "rural" by the census:

• Pinellas County – 0.3 percent rural
• Hillsborough County – 3.5 percent rural
• Sarasota County – 4.3 percent rural
• Manatee County – 5.8 percent rural
• Pasco County – 9.5 percent rural
• Polk County – 13.5 percent rural
• Hernando County – 19.4 percent rural

While no counties in the Tampa Bay area are considered “mostly rural” by the federal government, some in Florida are. They include, Walton, Glades, Dixie and Franklin counites.

For those missing wide open spaces, Florida still has three counties that are considered 100 percent rural: Jefferson, Liberty and Lafayette.

As for where Miami-Dade ranked, it’s considered 0.4 percent rural, just below Pinellas County’s 0.3 percent.

Differences in Rural America

Among the national data, census estimates found:

• Most adults in both rural and urban areas owned their own homes, but the percentage was higher in rural areas (81.1 percent compared to 59.8 percent).
• Adults in rural areas were also more likely to live in single-family homes (78.3 percent compared to 64.6 percent) and live in their state of birth (65.4 percent compared with 48.3 percent).
• Veterans comprised 10.4 percent of the population of adults in rural areas compared to 7.8 percent of adults in urban areas.

More of the residents of rural areas were older, with a median age of 51, compared to adults in urban areas with a median age of 45.

Rural households had slightly lower household incomes, but there were fewer in poverty. Home values were lower, but mortgage costs were less and they were more likely to own their home.

The survey showed that rural areas to cover about 97 percent of the country’s footprint, but account for less than 20 percent of the population.

Patch editor Greg Hambrick contributed to this story

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