Files
Abstract
Problems associated with rural economic development, involving maldistributions of population, income, and employment, suggest the need for statistical indicators of rural area growth and development. Development problems are not usually aligned geographically with the boundaries of a city, county, or State. Multicounty units of observation are considered useful for descriptive, analytical, and policy implication purposes. Four hundred and eighty-nine multicounty trading areas, which include all counties in the 48 contiguous States, were aggregated into five urban-orientation groups. The level of development of an area was found to be correlated with urban orientation. However, the sparsely settled rural areas of the Great Plains, on average, have attained a slightly higher level of economic development than the more densely settled rural areas of the Southeast. Population and employment growth rates are independent of urban orientation or the level of economic development. Economic development policies need to differ for rural areas compared with urban areas and for areas with a higher level of development compared with those with lower levels of development.