ABCD Counties - Explained
What are ABCD Counties?
Written by J. Mance Gordon
Updated at April 21st, 2024
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What are ABCD Counties?
In the United States, ABCD counties are counties that are classified based on census data provided by U.S Census Bureau. The categorization of counties with regard to their population strength gave birth to the concept of ABCD countries. While A counties are counties with the largest population in the United States, D counties have the smallest population. The classification of counties in the U.S using the ABCD alphabets was developed by the Nielsen Corp. This method of classification uses the population strength of counties and their proximity to a metro area or anchor city. The classification is done in a period of 10 years and the data is used broadly in advertising and media activities.
How are ABCD Counties Used?
In the United States, every county is captured in the categorization of counties using population and proximity to an anchor city. There are 3,142 counties in the U.S and they are classified using data from the recent census done in the U.S. Cities that are not recognized as part of a country but stand alone for census reasons are also captured under the ABCD counties. Maryland, Missouri and Nevada have one each of cities not part of a country while the Commonwealth of Virginia has 38 of them. Below is a highlight of the ABCD country classification system as devised by the Nielsen Corp.;
- A County
Counties with over 20,000 households and located in any of the largest cities in the U.S are referred to as A counties. A counties make up to 40% of all the U.S households. They have the highest population and proximity to urban areas.
- B County
B counties on the other hand have at least a number of 150,000 people making up their population. B countries account for 30% of the U.S households. A B country has about 85,000 or more households.
- C County
A C country is located in any Metropolitan Statistical area with over 20,000 households. C countries sum up to over 15% of the households in the United States.
- D County
This is the county with the lowest population and proximity to an urban area. D counties also account for about 15% of U.S households. These counties are rural places and totally out or urban regions.