Building a 21st Century Rural Workforce

It is no secret that much of rural America is struggling economically. Despite similar employment growth rates, nonmetropolitan areas tend to have relatively higher unemployment and underemployment rates and slower population growth rates than their metropolitan counterparts.1 Additionally, over the past 15 years, evidence from several states suggests that nonmetropolitan job losses have been in relatively high paying sectors, whereas growing sectors in the rural economy tend to pay relatively low-wages (Shields and Vivanco 2003). One important consequence of this dynamic is an increase in the disparity between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan household incomes. For example, Bureau of Economic Analysis data show that over the period 1969-2002, the average state metropolitan nominal per capita income increased by 97.5 percent (to $31,264) whereas the average nonmetropolitan state per capita income increased by only 91.5 percent (to $24,635). The upshot? Many parts of rural America have lower incomes and are falling further behind.