People often associate rural Oregon communities with poverty and low education levels. But these socioeconomic factors vary greatly, depending on how rural is defined. In a recent Rural Studies Working Paper, researchers examined three nationwide systems for defining rural and urban areas. They evaluated each system based on how well it separated densely settled urban areas from more remote, sparsely settled rural areas. They found that the choice of classification system has far-reaching research and policy implications. In addition to affecting how much land and population are classified as rural, the definition affects the demographic and economic profile of rural places, in turn influencing how barriers and opportunities are perceived in those areas.