According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 97 percent of the country’s land mass is rural, and about 60 million Americans call a rural community their home.1 To put that number in perspective, the rural population of the United States is larger than the combined populations of the New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago metro areas.
If we were talking about the economies of those great cities, we’d stress their regional differences, the complexities of demographic change, and the distinct challenges each city faces to remain vibrant and innovative. When the focus shifts to the rural economy, however, the discussion tends to be overly broad and simplistic.