What is Rural America?
What is Rural America? Learning how to think about rural areas…is a lesson in itself.
It’s a place where about 50 million Americans live, or a sixth of the U.S. population. It’s also a place that hasn’t grown in a century.
However the definition of rural areas depends on exactly what’s getting measured and who’s doing the measuring. While population density and isolation come into play, there’s plenty of leeway.
The U.S. Government offers several definitions of rural, notably from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Office of Management and Budget, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Looking at Visual Representations of Rural
To understand what criteria make up a rural designation, take a look at this lesson plan developed by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project. Their plan includes a fact-filled chart, complete with demographics, education, income and state-level details.
Teaching Tolerance provides all kinds of teaching kits and classroom activities to help students learn about diverse populations. We recommend taking your middle or high school students through their rural findings, because there’s so much to study! Start with these math and related vocabulary activities, which provide building blocks for interpreting statistical population data — and for understanding the challenges faced in Rural America.