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Rural per capita income is growing faster than inflation, and the percentage of rural people in poverty has fallen. But, the 2001 recession slowed rural income growth and reduced earnings. Despite rural growth prior to the recession, the large gap between the average rural income and the much higher average urban income remains. Recent research about food security suggests that part of the income gap may be due to lower costs of living in rural areas. Stronger evidence points to lower rural educational attainment, less competition for workers among rural employers, and fewer highly skilled jobs in the rural occupational mix.
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Rural Poverty At A GlanceThis publication provides the most recent information on poverty trends and demographic characteristics of the rural poor.
The rate of poverty is not only an important social indicator of the well-being of the least well off, but it is also widely used as an input in shaping Federal policies and targeting program benefits.
While metro and nonmetro areas have shared similar patterns of reductions and increases in poverty rates over time, there continues to exist a wide and persistent gap between nonmetro and metro poverty rates. The report also documents large metro-nonmetro gaps when poverty is analyzed by race, ethnicity, age, and family structure. Other reports in this series look at rural education and rural America (see all At A Glance reports).
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updated: July 28, 2004
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