Rural parts of Virginia may have lower average incomes. But that’s only one measure of success.
In many ways, rural parts of Virginia are thriving. Median household income in rural Virginia is rising faster than in urban parts of the state. And poverty in rural Virginia is falling faster than in metro Virginia.
“Rural areas are aging faster. They’re losing a lot of their adults who are retiring, and they’ve also lost a lot of young adults who are moving out," says Hamilton Lombard, a resarcher at the University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.
"So their workforce is shrinking, and that’s forcing employers to increase productivity and also raise wages to attract more workers coming in.”
That’s a rising tide that’s lifting all boats across rural Virginia.
“The poverty rates in rural areas have been closing in on urban areas slowly over the last few decades, and so rural areas in Virginia are relatively in a better position than they were before the recession," Lombard explains.
"That’s not true for metro areas in Virginia. They still have higher poverty rates than they did before the last recession ten years ago.”
And, Lombard says, the trend of incomes in rural areas closing in on urban areas is one that’s been going on for the last 50 years. So, he says, it’s not crazy to imagine it’ll continue for the next decade.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
