Components of nonmetropolitan population change: the contribution of rural areas

Extract: Despite a general awareness of the dimensions of the non-metropolitan population "turnaround," the role of rural population change in this demographic phenomenon remains less well understood. Using population data from the 1950-1980 decennial censuses, the present paper examines the contribution of various-sized places and rural areas to aggregate U.S. and nonmetropolitan population change during each ten year period between 1950 and 1980. We show that not only were rural areas growing at a faster rate than urban areas during the 1970's, but perhaps as important, rural population change was the driving force behind aggregate population growth in most parts of the nonmetropolitan U.S. Rural areas accounted for over 80 percent of aggregate U.S. non-metropolitan population change in the 1970-1980 decade