Rural is not simple to define, perhaps because the real question is rural for what purpose?

Each definition serves a different purpose. Metropolitan statistical areas were developed to facilitate standardized reporting on population characteristics, such as in U.S. Census and federal unemployment data. RUCA codes identify places that are economically connected to urban centers and thus benefit from those economies. FAR codes are intended to identify areas where residents may be cut off from key services such as broadband internet access and emergency medical care.

One universal is that rurality exists on a continuum. A simple map of population density captures the concept of a spectrum between urban, suburban and rural places in Wisconsin. Though rurality has many dimensions and can mean different things in different places — distance to services, land use, community, cows — one commonality is that rural places have low population density.

"Rural areas are vastly different but probably have at least the one common characteristic of a sparse population," notes UW-Extension Vilas County educator Chris Stark.

In all definitions of rurality, Wisconsin has a large rural-dwelling population and a large amount of rural land area compared to many other states. Moreover, the urban centers in Wisconsin are, relatively speaking, quite small. Although Milwaukee is a major metropolitan center, its population size does not overshadow other urban centers in Wisconsin, unlike neighboring Illinois and Minnesota, which are dominated by Chicago and the Twin Cities, respectively, in terms of population and their economies.