A Road Map for Rural America’s Comeback

Rural America is losing population, as young people move to the cities. Small towns are still home to tens of millions of people, but they skew older and lower-income than the thriving metros. Some of the critical industries that had supported these areas, such as coal mining, are in decline, while others, like agriculture, are increasingly automated. Many of the manufacturers that supported small factory towns have either moved overseas or turned to robots.

Meanwhile, big cities are booming as knowledge industries like software, biotechnology, finance and business services become increasingly central to the U.S. economy. Companies in these industries tend to cluster together rather than spread out, which favors larger population centers. San Francisco, New York, Seattle and a handful of other lucky metropolises are so overwhelmed that housing costs have skyrocketed, leading to bitter political battles over gentrification, displacement and residential construction. The stark difference between bustling cities and languishing countryside may be contributing to widening social and political divisions.