Rural growth very slow nationally, except in counties next to metro areas, or with good scenery and recreation potential

Counties outside metropolitan areas – the broadest and bluntest definition of "rural" – have fewer births, more deaths and older populations than the rest of the country, and have declined to 14 percent of the national population. However, the counties that border metropolitan areas "seem to fare better in attracting new people and keeping long-time residents," John Cromartie writes for Amber Waves, the publication of the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nonmetro counties have yet to recover from the Great Recession, which was followed by years in which their overall population declined. "As in previous periods of economic difficulties, such as in the mid-1980s and early 2000s, nonmetro America experienced a steep decline in population growth rates during the Great Recession," Cromartie writes. "Nonmetro population growth fell from a peak of 0.7 percent in 2006-07 to -0.14% in 2011-12. Unlike those previous periods of difficulty, the post-recession population recovery during the 2010s has been quite slow. The nonmetro growth rate has been lower than in metropolitan (metro) counties since the mid-1990s, and the gap widened considerably in recent years."

Much of the eastern U.S. continued to lose rural population in the second half of the decade, but "Notable rebounds are seen in some high-amenity areas, especially those close to large metro areas such as in Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. Renewed population growth on the metro periphery is also noticeable in central Texas, Colorado, and the Pacific Northwest," Cromartie reports. In addition to metro proximity, rural counties that grew have "attractive scenery and recreation potential."

U.S. Department of Agriculture map and chart; to view a larger version of either one, click on it