Foreign-born residents drive population growth in rural U.S. - Entrepreneur Generations

Population growth in rural America was almost non-existent from 2010 to 2015, but what little it had is mostly because of foreign-born residents. "Rural America’s population grew by a scant 0.3 percent during the period and now stands at 46.2 million. Without the increase in foreign-born residents, the rural population growth would have been 0.1 percent, Census estimates show," The Daily Yonder reports. The Daily Yonder's analysis, which is based primarily on American Community Survey data, jibes with a Headwaters Economics report in August that said that minorities--including those who are foreign-born--are driving the growth in rural areas of Western states.

Daily Yonder map; click on the image to enlarge it.
Click here to see the interactive version. 

The population gains and losses in that time period looked very different in large vs. small rural counties, though. Foreign-born residents increased in both large and small rural counties, but small rural counties lost native-born residents, while larger rural counties tended to gain native-born residents.

Ken Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy, told the Daily Yonder that "Counties are not losing population randomly . . . The people who leave rural counties tend to be young adults. So when a county loses those young people, it loses a lot of its potential, too. You’re not just losing those young adults, you’re losing the people who are going to produce the next generation." Continuing rural population decline could hurt local businesses too, he said.

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2zpbPtc Foreign-born residents drive population growth in rural U.S. - Entrepreneur Generations

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