RURAL AMERICA AT A GLANCE 2006 Edition

From 2000 to 2005, the nonmetro population in the United States grew by 2.2 percent. International migration supplied nearly a third of the growth in nonmetro areas, and accounted for all nonmetro population growth in the Midwest. Growth was concentrated in nonmetro counties adjacent to metro areas. (Data on nonmetro areas are used in this report to describe rural and small-town America. The definitions of metro and nonmetro areas are discussed in the section on data sources at the end of this report.) The nonmetro population is aging, like the U.S. population as a whole, with implications for health care, housing, and transportation. Between 2000 and 2005, the nonmetro population 40-59 years old grew by 8 percent, while the nonmetro population under 20 years of age declined by 5 percent. Following a short recession between March and November 2001, and a subsequent period of economic growth without employment growth, the United States has undergone a broad-based economic expansion since 2003, with employment growth occurring in sectors representing more than 80 percent of total U.S. employment. As a result, U.S. employment grew between 2004 and 2005, particularly in the West and the metro South, and unemployment rates were the lowest since the 2001 recession. However, 46 percent of nonmetro counties were still below their 2000 employment levels in 2005. After a decline of more than 15 percent between 2000 and 2003 in both metro and nonmetro areas, manufacturing employment in early 2006 remained relatively stable for the third year in a row.