Understanding Rural America
County Types
Farming Counties
Once, the vast majority of rural counties depended on farming as their
primary source of income. Today, fewer than a quarter do, and these
farming-dependent counties are home to only 9 percent of the rural population.
Map: The number of farming counties has shrunk
dramatically since 1950.
Concentrated in the Great Plains, these 556 counties derive 20 percent or
more of their earned income from farming; for one county the figure was 89
percent. Even in these counties, however, nonfarm sectors are a major source of
employment and income, providing nearly 80 percent of the jobs in
farming-dependent counties. Those jobs are held by farmers and nonfarmers alike.
Many farmers and farm families depend on nonfarm jobs and incomes to make ends
meet.
The decline in the number of farming-dependent counties is, in part, a
consequence of agricultural success. Increases in farm productivity through
advances in production technology, crop science, and management have led to
decreases in farm employment. Simply put: fewer people are needed to produce
an increasing amount of farm goods.
In addition to changes in farming, the remoteness of these counties (the
most rural of the county types discussed here) creates a barrier to development.
With very few urban centers or nearby major metropolitan areas, these counties
have limited access to the information, innovation, trade, services, and finance
that drive today's economy.
In addition to the distances between communites, low average population
densities (11.8 persons per square mile compared with 36.3 for all nonmetro
counties) also increase per capita costs of infrastructure and other
investments, making it hard for people in these communities to maintain
transportation systems, utilities, public institutions, and other services that
urban areas take for granted.
As farming employment has declined, other types of industry have not
replaced all the jobs that were lost. Thus, many young people have left to seek
jobs elsewhere, often moving to a different part of the country.
Despite the decline in jobs, income levels in farming-dependent counties
compare favorably with other nonmetro counties. Average per capita income in
these counties was higher in 1989 than the average of all nonmetro counties,
though considerably lower than the metro average. Within the farming sector,
earnings per job in these counties were $27,701 in 1989, substantially above the
nonmetro counties as a group. However, these figures can mask the fact that even
within the relatively well-off farming counties, some people may have much lower
incomes.
Chart: In farming counties, farm jobs pay well ...
Farming counties lagged behind other nonmetro counties in creating jobs.
Total employment declined 1.2 percent and, consistent with national trends, farm
jobs declined by 111,000 (19.4 percent) from 1979 to 1989. In these counties,
new jobs are not being created fast enough to replace those lost in farming.
Chart: ... but there are fewer and fewer of them.
Population (as well as population density) in these counties is relatively
low, averaging only 8,400 in 1990, compared with 22,000 for all nonmetro
counties. Outmigration continues to take its toll on these already small and
low-density populations. From 1980 to 1990, 80 percent of farming-dependent
counties lost population. During the 1980s, the average rate of outmigration was
11 percent highest among all nonmetro county types and more than double the
nonmetro average of 4.4 percent. The loss of younger, well-educated people is
particularly significant, as they leave to seek jobs that are not being created
locally. The 18- to 34-year-old population in farming counties declined 17
percent on average from 1980 to 1990. This decline exacerbated the already high
ratios of nonworking-age to working-age people. For every 100 working age
adults, 87 residents were in the dependent population: those 17 years old or
younger plus those 65 or older.
Stabilizing population, enhancing job opportunities, and providing public
services in these counties is a major rural development concern today. The well-being of residents and communities hangs in the balance. If historical and
current trends continue, however, the future of farming-dependent counties will
be one of further declines in population--especially among the working-age and
well-educated--and farm employment. As population declines, the per unit costs
of infrastructure and such services as health care and education will increase.
As farm employment declines, other types of employment will need to be found to
replace those jobs. However, the outmigration of working-age and well-educated
people may act as a barrier to creating and maintaining those other economic
activities.
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Updated: February 11, 1997
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