Rural Urban Classification (2021)
The 2021 RUC is a statistical classification to provide a consistent and standardised method for classifying geographies as rural or urban. This is based on address density, physical settlement form, population size and Relative Access to Major towns and cities (populations of over 75,000 people). The classification is produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) with advice from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Welsh Government and colleagues from the Government Geography Profession (GGP).
- Rural Urban Classification (2021) of 250611 Fire and Rescue Areas (2025) EW
- Rural Urban Classification (2021) of Fire and Rescue Areas (2025)
- This is 2021 rural-urban classification (RUC) of the 2025 Fire and Rescue Areas for England and Wales. This means that the 2021 RUC methodology has been applied to the 2025 Fire and Rescue Areas boundaries. Fire and Rescue Areas classifications are divided into four categories based on their populations:
- Majority Rural: had at least 50% of their population residing in rural OAs
- Intermediate Rural: 35-50% of their population residing in rural OAs
- Intermediate Urban: 20-35% of their population residing in rural OAs
- Urban: 20% of less of the population lived in rural OAs.
- Each 2025 Fire and Rescue Areas category is split into one of two Relative Access categories, using the same data as the 2021 Output Area RUC. If more than 50% of a population lives in ‘Nearer a major town or city’ OAs, it is deemed to be ‘nearer a major town or city’; otherwise, it is classified as ‘further from a major town or city’.
Field Names - FRA25CD, FRA25NM, RUC21CD, RUC21NM, Rural Urban Flag, RUC21 settlement class, Proportion of population in rural OAs (%), RUC21 relative access, Proportion of population in OAs further from a major town or city (%)
Field Types - Text, Text, Text, Text, Text, Text, Double, Text, Double
Field Lengths - 9, 44, 3, 62, 5, 18, 4, 42, 4
