coastal

Values: “CNS”, “CS”, “NC”, “SW”, “U”

Description: Indicates whether an establishment is located in a Coastal Non-Shoreline (CNS), Coastal Shoreline (CS), Non-Coastal (NC), Statewide (SW), or Unknown (U) county in year t. A county is considered a CNS or CS county based on NOAA definitions. The definitions of SW and U are the same as those used in the core BDS. Cells designated as “SW” include establishments without a fixed location such as employee leasing establishments. Cells designated as “U” include establishments without a valid county code. For details, please see the BDS Codebook and Glossary. All other counties that are not CS, CNS, SW, or U are considered NC. For additional information about how these counties are assigned, please see the Methodology page.

cregion

Values: “Atlantic”, “Great Lakes”, “Gulf of Mexico”, “Pacific”, “Non Coastal”, “SW”, “U”

Description: For businesses classified as CNS and CS, cregion indicates the closest body of water.  For businesses classified as NC, SW, or U, cregion equals Non Coastal, SW, or U respectively.

rural

Values: “MR”, “MU”, “PR”, “PU”, “SW”, “U”

Description: Indicates how rural or urban a county is based on the percentage of the total population count from the 2020 Decennial Census living in urban areas.  The definitions are as follows:

• Predominantly Urban (PU) - Urban population greater than or equal to 80%
• Mostly Urban (MU) - Urban population greater than or equal to 50% and less than 80%
• Mostly Rural (MR) - Urban population greater than or equal to 20% and less than 50%
• Predominantly Rural (PR) - Urban population less than 20%

For all other variable definitions refer to BDS Codebook and Glossary.

Questions?  Contact us at ces.bds@census.gov.