Unemployment rates vary considerably across nonmetro counties, where adjusted average annual unemployment rate was 12.2% in 1984 compared with 10.4% in metro areas. Differences in unemployment rates among nonmetro areas can be explained in part according to their dependence on agriculture, mining, manufacturing, or other single sources of income.…

Defines substandard housing and summarizes newly derived data from the 1980 Census showing that 7.5% of all rural occupied housing in the Nation was substandard. Points out regional and rural-urban differences. Notes effects on rural housing of poverty rates, percentage of nonwhite households, average household size, growth in county population,…

Analyzes fertility information for the United States noting characteristics of counties with high and low fertility rates. Compares birth rates for rural and smalltown (nonmetro) women with urban and suburban (metro) women noting that young nonmetro women no longer intend to have families larger than those of metro women. (JHZ)

Compares rural and urban income levels of Whites, Blacks, and Hispanic workers by region for the years 1979 and 1987. Presents information on geographic concentrations of minorities. Suggests the economic status of rural minorities failed to improve because of the nonskilled or semiskilled job opportunities in areas where minority populations are…

The persistent poor make up only about a third of all the poor, and the rest are temporarily poor because of sudden changes in their lives--loss of job, marital breakup, or illness. The two groups of rural poor have different needs and will be helped by different types of programs. (JHZ)

A larger proportion of nonmetropolitan elderly assess their health as fair or poor when compared to elderly living in metropolitan areas. In addition, larger proportions of elderly living in nonmetropolitan areas have less than a high school education and income below $20,000--factors contributing to a higher incidence of poor health. (LP)

Nine county-level urban-influence categories were developed to enhance research on geographic differences in economic opportunities. Categories differ along many social and economic dimensions: population growth, educational attainment, employment growth, earnings, presence of institutions of higher learning, and hospital and physician supply.…

Whatever migration patterns evolve, changes in the age structure mean that rural communities in general can expect fairly stable elementary school population, reduced high school population, slower growth in new business and employment, and continued increase in the elderly population. (JHZ)