For the purposes of this research , we categorize North Carolina ’ s 100 counties using a typology developed by University of Illinois Scholar Andrew Isserman . This typology has four categories : urban , rural , mixed urban and mixed rural . 15
Rural counties
• A population density of less than 500 people-per-square-mile ( ppsm )
• 90 % of their population in rural areas , and no urban area of 10,000 people
• 58 % of churches in the sample are in counties that are considered rural
Urban counties
• A population density of at least 500 ppsm
• At least 90 % of the population in urban areas , and at least 50,000 people living in the urbanized areas
• 0 % of churches in the sample are in urban areas
Mixed counties are neither completely urban nor rural , and are subdivided based on a second population density threshold . There are two types of mixed counties , mixed rual and mixed urban .
Mixed rural counties
• A population density of less than 320 ppsm
• 27 % of churches are in counties that are considered mixed rural
• In our sample , mixed rural counties include several tourism dependent coastal communities , which see wide fluctuations in population throughout the year
County Typology
27 %
Mixed Rural
9 %
Mixed Urban
58 %
Rural
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Mixed urban counties
• A population density of 320 ppsm or more
• Contain at least one large town , or are adjacent to an urban county
• 9 % of churches are in counties that are considered mixed urban
The sample shows that on average , mixed rural churches have more members ( 141 versus 104 ) and larger budgets ($ 217,000 versus $ 157,700 ) than rural churches , but the differences are not statistically significant . Still , these categories are useful for thinking about how the economic impact of churches can vary among different types of communities . The rural United States , and even rural North Carolina , encompasses wider patterns of settlement than just urban or rural . Using these four categories , as opposed to a singular ‘ rural ,’ allows the research team to better identify patterns that individuals can apply to their own churches and communities .
15 Isserman , Andrew M . ( 2005 ). In the National Interest : Defining Rural and Urban Correctly in Research and Public Policy . International Regional Science Review , ( 28 ) 4:465-499
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