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The Rural Families Data Center is a source of data on families and communities in rural America, designed to serve community leaders, policymakers, educators, journalists, grant makers, and the general public. Our goal is to raise awareness of trends in the well-being of families in rural areas and to contribute to informed discussion of policy at the national, state, and local levels.
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 Strengthening Rural Families: America's Rural Children (PDF: 1MB)
Children in rural America face significant educational, social, and economic challenges, just as their urban counterparts do; yet policymakers have focused primarily on improving conditions for families living in cities. This brochure provides an overview of the social, economic, and demographic characteristics of the 14 million children who live in rural America. (September 2004)
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| Articles |
Multiple Jobholding Rates Higher in Rural America
In several midwestern states more than 10 percent of workers hold more than one job. Many people working in small-scale agriculture take second jobs because they cannot earn enough money in farming to support their families. Others work part-time in farming because they enjoy the work, and can use the money to supplement their nonfarm income (September 2004).
Rural Kids Lagging in Health, Education
Children in rural America face many of the same challenges that are typically associated with children living in cities—and fare worse than urban kids on several key indicators of child well-being, according to new research from the Population Reference Bureau (July 2004).
One in Five Children in Rural America Lives in Poverty
The child poverty rate in 1999 was 21 percent in rural areas of the United States and 16 percent in urban areas. New metropolitan area definitions from the federal government draw attention to the critical needs of children living in remote areas (April 2004).
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U.S. Counties by Metropolitan Area Status in 2003 (PDF: 864KB)
Since June 2003, the Census Bureau has tracked “micropolitan” statistical areas—areas identified as having an urban cluster of between 10,000 and 49,999 population, along with the traditional metropolitan areas—areas with an urban core of at least 50,000 residents. Together, metropolitan and micropolitan areas are known as “core-based statistical areas” (CBSAs). Counties not linked to urban clusters are termed “outside core-based statistical areas.”
U.S. Counties by Rural-Urban Continuum Codes in 2003 (PDF: 1.0MB)
Developed after each decennial census, the rural-urban continuum codes are an effort by the Economic Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to measure the degree of rurality, or relative isolation, in a county. Codes are applied to all U.S. counties and county equivalents in 2003, based on their metropolitan-nonmetropolitan status and size of their metropolitan or urban populations.
| Reports |
A 'New Diversity': Race and Ethnicity in the Appalachian Region (PDF: 1MB)
This report looks at the post-1990 diversity of Appalachia, examining its geographic concentrations, its contributing factors, and its breakdown by racial and ethnic minority group. The study also analyzes how Appalachia’s increased racial and ethnic diversity affects selected economic and social developments in the region. The study concludes with an examination of the potential implications of these growing trends. (September 2004)
Labor Market Performance, Poverty, and Income Inequality in Appalachia (PDF: 1.6MB)
This report attempts to answer the question, "How has Appalachia fared over the last 30 years relative to other areas that historically faced similar conditions of economic distress?" The report also discusses why disparities between Appalachia and historically similar areas have occurred. (September 2004)
The Aging of Appalachia (PDF: 704KB)
Data from Census 2000 show how and why the age structure of the Appalachian population differs from the national average. The changing age structure of people living in Appalachia will be important to policymakers in coming years (April 2004). |
