Demographics of Rural Communities in the United States

September 2013

The following are statistics related to the demographics of rural communities in the United States. While demographics cover a wide range of considerations, for purposes of this review, the following categories were focused on: Overall Population Changes, Age, Gender, Education, Income/Employment, Race/Ethnicity, and Health. Within these categories are various facts collected from reputable sources.

This review is not comprehensive, but rather is meant to provide a broad overview of changing rural demographics. A comprehensive, interactive map on rural demographics can be accessed here. This map uses the following definition for “nonmetro,” which is from the Office of Management and Budget: “outside the boundaries of metro areas and have no urban areas with 50,000 residents or more.”

Complete PDF Report (7-page document)

NCSL Staff Contat
Doug Farquhar