Policy Statement 11 – August 2006

Definition of Frontier

Frontier areas are sparsely populated rural areas that are isolated from population centers and services. Frontier is sometimes defined as places having a population density of six or fewer people per square mile. However, this definition does not take into account some of the other factors that may isolate a community. Therefore, other definitions are more complex and address isolation by considering distance in miles and travel time in minutes to services.

Definitions of frontier for specific state and federal programs vary, depending on the purpose of the project being funded. Some of the issues that may be considered in classifying an area as frontier include population density, distance from a population center or specific service, travel time to reach a population center or service, functional association with other places, availability of paved roads, and seasonal changes in access to services. Frontier may be defined at the county level, by ZIP code or by census tract.