Economic Research Service
" "  
Search ERS

 
About ERS

Print this page Print | E-mail this link E-mail | Bookmark & Share Bookmark/share | Translate this page Translate | Text only Text only | resize text smallresize text mediumresize text large

An Enhanced Quality of Life for Rural Americans

Overview

Rural America is home to about 17 percent (50 million) of the Nation's people, comprises over 2,000 counties, and accounts for 75 percent of the Nation's land. ERS research explores how investments in rural people, businesses, and communities affect the capacity of rural economies to prosper in the new and changing global marketplace.

Related Briefing Rooms

Features

Rural America At A Glance Rural America At A Glance, 2008 Edition—The 2007 edition highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas See all At A Glance reports in the series.

Recommended Readings

Workers in meat-processing plant.Meat-Processing Firms Attract Hispanic Workers to Rural America—Over the past 40 years, the U.S. meat-processing industry has been transformed by changing consumer preferences for meat products, which helped trigger a consolidation within the industry and a relocation of processing plants to rural areas. Bucking trends in the manufacturing sector, meat processing has gained employment. Rapid population growth and geographic dispersion of Hispanics since the 1990s has helped meet the labor needs of rural-based meat-processing plants and altered rural communities.

Low-Skill Employment and the Changing Economy of Rural America—This study reports trends in rural low-skill employment in the 1990s and their impact on the rural workforce. The share of rural jobs classified as low-skill fell by 2.2 percentage points between 1990 and 2000, twice the decline of the urban low-skill employment share, but much less than the decline of the 1980s. Employment shifts from low-skill to skilled occupations within industries, rather than changes in industry mix, explain virtually all of the decline in the rural low-skill employment share. The share decline was particularly large for rural Black women, many of whom moved out of low-skill blue-collar work into service occupations, while the share of rural Hispanics who held low-skill jobs increased.

Rural recreation: Kayaking on a mountain lake.

Recreation, Tourism, and Rural Well Being—By looking at 311 rural recreation counties, this study finds that recreation and tourism development benefits rural well-being by increasing local employment, wage levels, and income, reducing poverty, and improving education, and health. But rural recreation and tourism development is not without drawbacks, including higher housing costs. Local effects also vary significantly, depending on the type of recreation area. Read Rural Areas Benefit from Recreation and Tourism Development or download a list of the recreation counties in an Excel file.

Policy Options for a Changing Rural America—This Amber Waves feature article discusses the policy implications of wide social and economic differences among rural areas. Farming-dependent areas have nonfarm sector development limited by remoteness from major urban markets and low population density. Some manufacturing-dependent areas face restructuring as global markets change demand for various products and services. Low-education areas find it harder to compete in the increasingly high-tech national jobs market. And, rural retirement destination counties attract both young and old, stressing infrastructure and public services in some of the fastest growing communities. This diversity requires situationally specific development strategies rather than a broad "one size fits all" rural policy.

The 20th Century Transformation of U.S. Agriculture and Farm Policy—The structure of farms, farm households, and rural communities has evolved markedly over the last century. The report analyzes a wide range of historical data related to farm structure and provides perspective on the long-term forces that have helped shape agricultural and rural life. A review of some key policy developments also considers the extent to which farm policy design has or has not kept pace with the continuing transformation of American agriculture. See also Milestones in U.S. Farming and Farm Policy, an Amber Waves data feature based on this report.

The Role of Education: Promoting the Economic and Social Vitality of Rural America—This publication reports findings from a 2003 conference on rural education and economic development sponsored by ERS, the Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC), and the Rural School and Community Trust. Offering insight into the important and often fragile relationship between rural schools and communities in America, the report comprises nine articles divided into three area-specific sections: (1) Education, Human Capital and the Local Economy, (2) Links between Rural Schools and Communities and (3) Creating Successful Rural Schools and Students. Download the report from the SRDC website.

Agricultural Income and Finance Situation and Outlook—This periodical provides historical estimates and forecasts of farm sector financial information that gauge the financial health of the Nation's farmers and ranchers. Common topics include trends in farm sector receipts, expenses, debt, assets, and costs of producing crops and livestock. Each issue concentrates on a particular area of the farm financial picture.

See all recommended readings...

Recommended Data Products

Rural Definitions—Most Americans share a common image of rural—open countryside and small towns at some distance from large urban centers—but not a common consensus on where and how to draw the line between rural and urban. Dozens of definitions are currently used by federal and State agencies, researchers, and policy makers. The ERS Rural Definition data product allows users to make comparisons among nine representative rural definitions, for the U.S. as a whole and for individual States. We include socioeconomic indicators (population, education, poverty, etc.) that are commonly used to highlight differences between urban and rural areas. Three display options are available: national and State indicator tables; State-level maps; and an interactive mapping utility.

Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes—The rural-urban commuting area codes (RUCA) classify U.S. census tracts using measures of urbanization, population density, and daily commuting from the decennial census. Codes for 2000 and 1990 census tracts and ZIP codes are available.

Population Interaction Zones for Agriculture (PIZA)—These indexes measure the degree of influence that nearby urban-related population exerts on agricultural land. The county-level and 5-kilometer indexes are based on a "gravity model" of urban influences.

2004 County Typology Codes—An area's economic and social characteristics have significant effects on its development and need for various types of public programs. ERS has developed a new set of county-level typology codes that captures differences in economic and social characteristics. An economic code separates counties into six categories of industry dependence (farming, mining, manufacturing, Federal and State government, services, and nonspecialized). Seven individual policy codes differentiate housing stress, low education, low employment, persistent poverty, population loss, nonmetro recreation, and retirement destination counties from other counties. See the typology code chapter in the measuring rurality briefing room for more information, links to maps, and methodology.

2003 Urban Influence Codes—These codes form a classification scheme that distinguishes metropolitan counties by size and nonmetropolitan counties by size of the largest city or town and proximity to metro and micro areas. The standard Office of Management and Budget (OMB) metro and nonmetro categories have been subdivided into two metro and 10 nonmetro categories, resulting in a 12-part county codification. This scheme was originally developed in 1993. This scheme allows researchers to break county data into finer residential groups, beyond metro and nonmetro, particularly for the analysis of trends in nonmetro areas that are related to population density and metro influence.

2003 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes—The 2003 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes form a classification scheme that distinguishes metropolitan counties by size and nonmetropolitan counties by degree of urbanization and proximity to metro areas. The standard Office of Management and Budget (OMB) metro and nonmetro categories have been subdivided into three metro and six nonmetro categories, resulting in a 9-part county codification. This scheme allows researchers to break county data into finer residential groups, beyond metro and nonmetro, particularly for the analysis of trends in nonmetro areas that are related to population density and metro influence.

State Fact Sheets—State Fact Sheets provide information on population, per-capita income, earnings per job, poverty, number of jobs, unemployment rate, percent employment change, farm and farm-related jobs, top export commodities, farm characteristics, and farm financial indicators.

See all recommended data...

Related Links

USDA Rural Development—This site provides information on USDA business, housing, and utility programs to improve the economy and quality of life in rural America.

Small Farms@USDA—This is a gateway to resources, benefits, and services offered by USDA for small farmers, including the Small Farms Advisory Commission's recommendations and USDA action plans.

See all related links...

Maps and Images Gallery

Rural Gallery—Charts and maps depict information on rural indicators, including population and migration; labor and education; income, poverty, and welfare; housing; and industry.

 

For more information, contact: Tim Parker

Web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov

Updated date: November 11, 2008