If we look at the number of bank branches rather than the number of competitors, we see a significant increase in the number of branches in the average urban market, with the entire increase coming from branches of large banks (figure 11).
Over the same period, there was essentially no change in the number of branches in rural markets, with a slight shift upward in the share of branches accounted for by large banks (figure 12). Of course, there is substantial variation in the experiences of individual markets, as some local rural and urban markets gained and others lost bank branches.