Classification of Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas in the National Crime Victimization Survey

• NCJ Number: 255923
• Date Published: December 2020
• Author(s): Jeffrey H. Anderson
• Length: 10 pages
• Agencies: BJS

Annotation

This report explains the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS’) new (2020) classifications of “urban,” “suburban,” and “rural” areas for the 2019 and future versions of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to provide a more precise description of where criminal victimizations occur.

Abstract

In 2020, BJS provided new classifications of urban, suburban, and rural areas for the 2019 and future versions of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) with the goal of presenting a more accurate picture of where criminal victimizations occur. This report illustrates how these classifications are determined and how the new definitions more closely fit U.S. residents’ own sense of where they live.