Let's build an relevant "urban/suburban/rural county" map

[Tekken_Guy]

NJ:

Urban: Hudson
Urban/Suburban: Bergen, Camden, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic, Union
Suburban/Rural: Atlantic, Burlington, Gloucester, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Somerset
Rural: Cape May, Cumberland, Hunterdon, Salem, Sussex, Warren

NY:

Urban: Bronx, Kings/Brooklyn, New York/Manhattan, Queens
"Small City": Albany, Broome, Erie, Monroe, Oneida, Onondaga
Suburban: Nassau, Niagara, Rensselaer, Richmond/Staten, Rockland, Schenectady, Suffolk, Westchester
Rural: Everything else

[Tekken_Guy]

Here's my take on it.

"Big city" counties: San Francisco CA, Denver CO, Duval FL, Jefferson KY, Orleans LA, Suffolk MA, New York NY, Multnomah OR, Philadelphia PA, Davidson TN, Arlington VA
"Big city"/Suburban counties: Jefferson AL, Maricopa AZ, Los Angeles CA, Sacramento CA, San Diego CA, Hillsborough FL, Miami-Dade FL, Fulton GA, Cook IL, Marion IN, Wayne MI, Hennepin MN, Jackson MO, Guilford NC, Mecklenburg NC, Wake NC, Clark NV, Cuyahoga OH, Franklin OH, Hamilton OH, Oklahoma OK, Tulsa OK, Allegheny PA, Shelby TN, Bexar TX, Dallas TX, Harris TX, Travis TX, King WA, Milwaukee WI
"Urban suburb" counties: DeKalb GA, Ramsey MN, Hudson NJ, Durham NC
"Middle suburb" counties: Alameda CA, Contra Costa CA, Orange CA, Riverside CA, San Bernardino CA, San Mateo CA, Santa Clara CA, Adams CO, Arapahoe CO, Jefferson CO, Fairfield CT, New Castle DE, Broward FL, Palm Beach FL, Pinellas FL, Cobb GA, Gwinnett GA, DuPage IL, Lake IL, Will IL, Johnson KS, Jefferson LA, Middlesex MA, Baltimore MD, Montgomery MD, Macomb MI, Oakland MI, Dakota MN, St. Louis MO, Bergen NJ, Camden NJ, Essex NJ, Middlesex NJ, Nassau NY, Westchester NY, Clackamas OR, Washington OR, Bucks PA, Chester PA, Delaware PA, Montgomery PA, Collin TX, Denton TX, Tarrant TX, Fairfax VA, Henrico VA, Pierce WA, Snohomish WA, Waukesha WI
"Exurb" counties: Douglas CO, Monroe FL, Kane IL, McHenry IL, Hamlton IN, St. Tammany LA, St. Charles MO, Monmouth NJ, Butler OH, Delaware OH, Lake OH, Lorain OH, Warren OH, Rutherford TN, Williamson TN, Brazoria TX, Fort Bend TX, Montgomery TX, Prince William VA, Loudoun VA
"Mid-sized city" counties: Pulaski AR, San Joaquin CA, Leon FL, Chatham GA, Polk IA, Ada ID, Allen IN, Sedgwick KS, Kent MI, Douglas NE, Erie NY, Monroe NY, Onondaga NY, Lucas OH, Montgomery OH, Summit OH, Berks PA, Lackawanna PA, Lehigh PA, Luzerne PA, Northampton PA, Charleston NC, Greenville SC, Richland SC, Amarillo TX, Nueces TX, Potter TX, Spokane WA

[Tekken_Guy]

Yeah a few problems here I think...

St. Tammany is definitely not Urban, it's outer NOLA suburbs, kind of like Montgomery County TX to Houston.

Calcasieu with Lake Charles is too small to be considered urban.

In Tennessee:
Why is Hamilton "Urban" and Knox a "Mini-Metro"? They're rougly equal in status.
In Florida:
Why is Broward "Urban" and Palm Beach "Suburban"? Also seemingly equal.

[Tekken_Guy]

Well, my initial attempt at definitions was mainly a way to fuse some of the prior recommendations together, but it's obvious we're going to need a different set(s) of standards for doing this.

One thought that occurred to me: should we consider breaking up the country into various groupings of states (in part based on county size/populations)? I obviously have a Southern-centric view of looking at these things and while I think my definitions actually work very well for a state like GA (lots of counties that are geographically small, with sprawl), it's not going to be ideal elsewhere.

Maybe something like this?

This is weird. Why do Virginia and Florida get their own regions? And who considers MO, KS, NE, and IA to be southern states?