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Long-Term Trends in Rural and Urban Poverty: New Insights Using a Historical Supplemental Poverty Measure

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  • Laura B. Nolan
  • Jane Waldfogel
  • Christopher Wimer

Abstract

Poverty has a strong relationship to geography in the United States. Previous research has found that rural areas have higher average poverty rates than urban areas, but the new supplemental poverty measure (SPM) has shown in recent years that urban areas have higher average poverty. In this article, we analyze poverty trends from 1967 to 2014 in rural and urban America, using the improved SPM metrics. We find a dramatic decline in poverty in rural areas, and also show that the geographic adjustment of the poverty threshold in the SPM (which lowers poverty thresholds in less expensive areas and raises them in more expensive areas) is an important explanatory factor. We also find that changes in the demographic and economic characteristics of rural and urban residents help to explain the decline. Last, we investigate whether migration of the poor between rural and urban areas helps to account for differential poverty trends, but we find little evidence in support of that hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura B. Nolan & Jane Waldfogel & Christopher Wimer, 2017. "Long-Term Trends in Rural and Urban Poverty: New Insights Using a Historical Supplemental Poverty Measure," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 672(1), pages 123-142, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:672:y:2017:i:1:p:123-142
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716217713174
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roback, Jennifer, 1982. "Wages, Rents, and the Quality of Life," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(6), pages 1257-1278, December.
    2. Liana Fox & Christopher Wimer & Irwin Garfinkel & Neeraj Kaushal & Jane Waldfogel, 2015. "Waging War on Poverty: Poverty Trends Using a Historical Supplemental Poverty Measure," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(3), pages 567-592, June.
    3. Emery N. Castle & JunJie Wu & Bruce A. Weber, 2011. "Place Orientation and Rural–Urban Interdependence," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 33(2), pages 179-204.
    4. Lauren Gurley, 2016. "Who's Afraid of Rural Poverty? The Story Behind America's Invisible Poor," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(3), pages 589-604, May.
    5. Peter Schaeffer & Scott Loveridge & Stephan Weiler, 2014. "Urban and Rural," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 28(1), pages 3-4, February.
    6. repec:rre:publsh:v:36:y:2006:i:2:p:163-91 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Christopher Wimer & Liana Fox & Irwin Garfinkel & Neeraj Kaushal & Jane Waldfogel, 2016. "Progress on Poverty? New Estimates of Historical Trends Using an Anchored Supplemental Poverty Measure," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(4), pages 1207-1218, August.
    8. Dean Jolliffe, 2006. "Poverty, Prices, and Place: How Sensitive is the Spatial Distribution of Poverty to Cost of Living Adjustments?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 44(2), pages 296-310, April.
    9. Glaeser, Edward L. & Kahn, Matthew E. & Rappaport, Jordan, 2008. "Why do the poor live in cities The role of public transportation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 1-24, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. J. Tom Mueller & Matthew M. Brooks & José D. Pacas, 2022. "Cost of Living Variation, Nonmetropolitan America, and Implications for the Supplemental Poverty Measure," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(4), pages 1501-1523, August.

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