Renewed population growth in rural America

Abstract

This chapter documents the fact that "nonmetropolitan America has experienced widespread population gain and net in-migration since 1990. This contrasts with the trend evident through most of this century.... However, this deconcentration has been selective and tempered by economic period effects. Future nonmetropolitan demographic change is likely to be even more dependent on migration because recent rural fertility patterns, together with age structure shifts, have diminished the contribution natural increase can make to rural growth. This increasing dependence on migration, coupled with the greater integration of nonmetropolitan areas into the national and international system, makes rural America increasingly sensitive to national and global economic, political, and social forces."