All rural elements farm and nonfarm must unite to better serve such areas. The rural economy is strengthened and growing, but uneven. There are 10 million more rural Americans working than at the beginning of the decade. However, new jobs are dominated by low-wage industries, which means that rural workers are underemployed and not able to move up the economic ladder. Rural poor families also are working, often full time.
Persistent poverty remains.
Although metropolitan poverty rates are decreasing, rural poverty rates are not. In addition, child poverty is higher in rural areas and tends to be in female-headed households. Some rural counties grew in population in the 1990s because of in-migration from metropolitan areas and migration from other nations. Those counties that had in-migration usually were adjacent to metropolitan counties or had high levels of amenities. These counties are becoming more diverse.