Rural population loss continued in last decade, especially in rural areas farthest from metros

Rural population growth continued to lag behind the rest of the country, and almost half the nation's rural counties lost population between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, according to an analysis by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the institute, also found that nearly 60 percent of counties not adjacent to a metropolitan area lost population, Conor Daugherty reports for The Wall Street Journal.

The census found that metro areas' population grew 10.8 percent, while non-metro or rural areas grew only 4.5 percent. "Such findings come as no surprise to Robert Knudson, city manager of Belleville, Kan.," Daugherty writes. "Over the decade, the county surrounding Belleville lost 855 people—15 percent of its population—and has been tearing down empty homes in recent years." Like many in Belleville, Knudson watched his children move away, to Wichita. "We were producing children for the jobs we couldn't support," Knudson told Daugherty. (Read more)