Rural Conditions and Trends--Vol. 7, No. 3

Publications

Rural Conditions and Trends:
Socioeconomic Conditions Issue

Volume 7, Number 3
Editors: Doug Bowers and Peggy Cook

Rural Conditions and Trends is published three times a year by USDA's Economic Research Service. To order Rural Conditions and Trends or other ERS publications, please visit the ERS-NASS Sales Desk.

This issue was published in February 1997 by the Rural Economy Division.

Abstract

This issue of Rural Conditions and Trends (RCaT) provides the annual review of current conditions in the Nation’s rural areas that reflect the socioeconomic well-being of rural communities and the people who live there. It also examines the nature and direction of rural trends in the 1990’s and their prospects for continuation during the remainder of the decade. RCaT last reported on socioeconomic conditions and trends in rural America in its Spring 1995 issue based on indicators for circa 1990-93 (Vol. 6, No. 1). The analysis presented in that issue cautiously pointed to a possible revitalization of rural areas following a decade of widespread economic stress and population decline. Based on the most recent indicators available, this issue shows that rural areas are experiencing widespread population growth and improved economic performance during the first half of the 1990’s, providing further credence to the argument that rural America as a whole is undergoing an economic and population revival. Yet, even in the face of a possible rural revival, the levels of income and earnings from nonfarm jobs in rural areas continue to lag those in urban areas.

Most of the articles in this issue update analysis reported in the Spring 1995 issue, although depending on data availability, some base their analyses on different data sources. For example, the articles dealing with the nonfarm earnings and personal income primarily use county estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis rather than data from the Current Population Surveys on workers’ earnings or household incomes. Depending on data availability, time periods for the analyses may vary slightly. This issue also includes an article that uses county migration data from the Internal Revenue Service to analyze the dynamics of intercounty inmigration and outmigration patterns. Two articles report on the socioeconomic status of segments of the agricultural population.

The full report is in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. You can download and get help using the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print the document. PDF format is used to preserve the layout as it appears in the printed publication.