UK Composite Urban Rural Classification (RUC)

Version: 2.3.0. This is the latest version. See all versions.

Description

UK-wide dataset of the urban/rural nature of small-areas (LSOA/DZ/SOAs)

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Table: Composite Rural/Urban Classification

Description:

Combined metric for all four UK nations of rural/urban classification for small statistical areas.

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Data description

Column name Data type Description Unique Required values
lsoa string 2010-era statistical small area geography. LSOA for England/Wales, Datazone for Scotland, SOA for Northern Ireland Yes
ukruc-2 integer Two fold scale: 0-Urban/1-Rural No 0, 1
ukruc-3 integer Three fold scale: 0-Urban/1-Rural/2-More Rural No 0, 1, 2
nation string Single letter description of UK Nation No E, N, S, W
pop integer Population of small area No
area number KM square area of small area Yes
density number Population density in people per km No
density_pop_decile integer Small areas divided into 10 deciles by population density. Each decile has equal population. No 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
density_pop_quintile integer Small areas divided into 5 quintiles by population density. Each quintile has equal population. No 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
density_area_decile integer Small areas divided into 10 deciles by area. Each decile has equal area. No 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
density_area_quintile integer Small areas divided into 5 quintiles by area. Each quintile has equal area. No 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Table: Local Authority RUC Profile

Description:

Based on LSOA information, a RUC label and profile for each local authority.

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Data description

Column name Data type Description Unique Required values
local-authority-code string Three/four letter code for a local authority. Yes
official-name string Standard name of local authority. Yes
highly-rural number Percentage of the population of an authority that live in a highly rural LSOA No
rural number Percentage of the population of an authority that live in a rural LSOA No
urban number Percentage of the population of an authority that live in an urban LSOA No
ruc-cluster-label string Local authorities grouped into four clusters based on the different profiles of the three figures. No Rural, Sparse and rural, Urban, Urban with rural areas

Table: Westminster Constituency RUC Profile (2025 Constituencies)

Description:

Based on urban/rural classification of LSOAs, a RUC label and profile for each Westminster constituency (2025 constituencies).

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Data description

Column name Data type Description Unique Required values
parl25 string Short codes from https://pages.mysociety.org/2025-constituencies/datasets/parliament_con_2025/latest Yes
constituency-name string Name of constituency Yes
highly_rural number Percentage of population who live in highly rural LSOAs in constituency No
rural number Percentage of population who live in rural LSOAs in constituency No
urban number Percentage of population who live in urban LSOAs in constituency No
label string Constituencies grouped into four clusters based on the different profiles of the three figures. No Rural, Sparse and rural, Urban, Urban with rural areas

Table: Westminster Constituency RUC Profile

Description:

Based on urban/rural classification of LSOAs, a RUC label and profile for each Westminster constituency.

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Data description

Column name Data type Description Unique Required values
gss-code string GSS code for 2010-set Westminster Parliamentary constituencies Yes
constituency-name string Name of constituency Yes
highly-rural number Percentage of population who live in highly rural LSOAs in constituency No
rural number Percentage of population who live in rural LSOAs in constituency No
urban number Percentage of population who live in urban LSOAs in constituency No
ruc-cluster-label string Constituencies grouped into four clusters based on the different profiles of the three figures. No Rural, Sparse and rural, Urban, Urban with rural areas

Change log

2.3.0

Change in data for resource(s): la_ruc

2.2.0

New resource(s) added: pcon_2025_ruc,pcon_ruc

2.1.0

Release 2023 council data

2.1.0-futurecouncils

2.0.0

Tidied LA RUC profile, and added constituency RUC profiles

1.1.0

New resource(s) added: la_ruc

1.0.1

keywords changed from 'None' to '['Geodata', 'United Kingdom', 'LSOA']'

1.0.0

Existing dataset, bump to supported version

0.1.0

Don't need to increment, first version