Natural Amenities Drive Rural Population Change

by David McGranahan

Climate, topography, and water area are highly related to rural county population change over the past 25 years. A natural amenities index, derived and discussed here, captures much of this relationship. Average 1970-96 population change in nonmetropolitan counties was 1 percent among counties low on the natural amenities index and 120 percent among counties high on the index. Most retirement counties and recreation counties score in the top quarter of the amenities index. Employment change is also highly related to natural amenities, although more so over the past 25 years than in the current decade. The importance of particular amenities varies by region. In the Midwest, for example, people are drawn to lakes for recreation and retirement, while people are attracted to the West for its varied topography.

Keywords: natural amenities, population change, retirement, recreation

In this publication...

• Entire Report
• Frontmatter (Title page, Contents, Summary)
• Introduction
• Measures of Natural Amenities
• Relationships Among Measures
• Population Change
• Other Measures in Population Change Analysis
• Natural Amenities and Population Growth
• Natural Amenity Scale
• Recreation and Retirement Counties
• Natural Amenities and Employment
• Natural Amenities and Regions
• Conclusions
• References
• Appendix Figures
• Appendix I: Categories of Variables Used in Regression Analyses
• Appendix II: Comparisons With the Original Scale