Report: When growing rural counties are reclassified as urban, that makes rural America look less successful

Headwaters Economics map shows in light blue counties that were classified as rural from 1970 to 2018, those that were reclassified from rural to urban in dark blue, and those that were always urban during that period in white. 

Rural America suffers many disparities compared to metropolitan counties, but it's misleading to compare rural counties from one year to the next, because the most successful rural counties are often reclassified as metropolitan—leaving only the less-prosperous counties to be counted as rural, according to a new report by Headwaters Economics.

"Rural America is reported as declining in part because we no longer count as Rural those counties that grew into a Metro classification. We are measuring those counties that stay Rural which, by definition, have not grown," says the report.

"The research showed that 48% of counties that were classified as rural in 1970 grew into metropolitan counties by 2018," Jan Pytalski reports for The Daily Yonder. "But the ones that remained rural had their share of success as well. For example, the average poverty rate in rural counties overall dropped 26% between 1970 and 2018."