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The number of people living in rural (nonmetro) counties stood at 46.1 million in July 2016-14 percent of all U.S. residents spread across 72 percent of the Nation's land area. The rural population declined by 21,000 between July 2015 and July 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's latest population estimates, the sixth consecutive year of modest population losses. Although many rural counties have shown population losses for decades, this is the first period on record of overall rural population decline.
ERS researchers and others who analyze conditions in "rural" America most often use data on nonmetro areas, defined as counties outside the commuting zones of cities of 50,000 or more (see the ERS What is Rural? topic page for more details). Population growth rates in rural counties have been significantly lower than in urban (metro) counties since the mid-1990s, and the gap widened considerably in recent years. Between 2006 and 2016, annual rates of population change in rural areas fell from 0.7 percent to below zero, while urban rates fell only slightly from 1 to 0.8 percent.
Population Growth From Natural Change No Longer Offsetting Net Migration Loss
County population change includes two major components: natural change (births minus deaths) and net migration (in-migrants minus out-migrants). While natural change has gradually trended downward over time, net migration rates tend to fluctuate...