Mapping Population and Economic Trends in Rural and Small-Town America

Abstract

E C O N O M I C R E S E A R C H S E R V I C E / U S DA Nearly 50 million people live in nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) America, covering approximately 2,000 counties. Nonmetro areas—widely used to depict rural and small-town conditions and trends—contain 17 percent of the U.S. population but extend across 80 percent of the land area. Economic and social challenges facing rural areas and small towns differ greatly from those affecting larger U.S. cities, and the opportunities for rural population growth and economic expansion vary substantially from one nonmetro county to the next. The ERS Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America helps shed light on the overall scope and diversity of demographic, economic, and social trends across the United States by providing county-level mapping of over 60 statistical indicators. Along with nonmetro-metro differences, interactive features of the Atlas enable users to view indicators for the full array of ERS county typologies, such as nonmetro counties that are farm dependent, persistently high poverty, or recreation based. Knowledge regarding the population’s age structure, race and ethnicity, income, employment, and other measures in different geographic areas can help national, State, and local policymakers create economic development strategies targeting challenges specific to particular regions and building on local assets. For example, planners in rural Great Plains communities may want to compare population trends in their area with those in less-isolated communities. Atlas Features New Data From the American Community Survey