ERS Typology Revised and Updated

A revised and expanded version of the Economic Research Service's county classification system, commonly called the ERS typology, is now available. The earlier, 1979 and 1986, typologies have been widely used as a vehicle to reflect the extremely diverse economic and social structure of rural America. The new typology, like the older ones, is based on the assumption that knowledge and understanding of different types of rural economies and their distinctive economic and sociodemographic profiles can aid rural policymaking. Compared with ERS' earlier typologies, this new typology is based on conditions in more recent years, includes Alaska and Hawaii, redefines persistent poverty, includes more county types, makes economic types nonoverlapping, and classifies counties designated as nonmetro in 1993.