Wisconsin Communities Reclassified in Last Census Bureau Wonder About the Implications

Monday, January 16th, 2023 -- 10:01 AM

(By Joe Tarr, Wisconsin Public Radio) More than 40 Wisconsin communities previously classified as "urban" by the U.S. Census Bureau are now "rural" in the wake of the federal agency changing its definitions.

But, according to Joe Tarr with Wisconsin Public Radio, the implications of this change are unclear to Jerry Deschane, executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, which represents 190 cities and 415 villages.

During an appearance Friday on Wisconsin Public Radio’s "The Morning Show," Deschane said it might take a while to learn if access to federal funding or services will be affected.

"The scary, truthful answer is we don't know yet," Deschane said. "Our concern … is this could either be a drag on (the now rural locations’) ability to attract economic development and new growth. It could be a drag on their ability to compete for state and federal grants, or it maybe could have no effect at all. Unfortunately, we don't know and we won't know which of those is the case until we're into this for a few years."

Places with 5,000 or more residents are now considered urban under the U.S. Census Bureau’s new definitions. Previously, communities with 2,500 or more residents were considered urban.

There’s one exception to the new definitions: Places under 5,000 with 2,000 or more housing units may be classified as urban, too. Deschane said the housing exception likely benefits many municipalities in Wisconsin. "Frankly, we have a lot of second homes," he said.

In December, after the U.S. Census Bureau adopted the new definitions, the Associated Press reported that newly classified rural communities might have a harder time qualifying for federal aid to pay for health care, public transportation, education and agriculture programs.

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