Does It Cost Less to Live in Rural Areas? Evidence from New Data on Food Security and Hunger

Mark Nord

Elsewhere No. (0001), March 1999

It costs about 16 percent less, on average, to live in rural rather than urban areas. This implies that the official poverty rate overstates rural economic hardship compared with that in urban areas. This study uses data on food insecurity and hunger collected by the Census Bureau for USDA to estimate differences in the cost of living between rural and urban areas.

Keywords: rural poverty, rural income, Economic Research Service, ERS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, ERS Elsewhere, eejs0001

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Updated date: March 1999