Rural residents get more educated, but still lag

USDA graphic: Educational attainment in rural and urban
areas, 2000 and 2015; click on image for a larger version

Rural Americans are increasingly becoming more educated, but still trail urban residents in overall education, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The report, "Rural Education at a Glance," found that the number of rural residents with a bachelor's degree or higher increased from 15 to 19 percent from 2000 to 2015. The number with associate's degrees increased from 6 to 9 percent, while the number with less than a high school diploma decreased from 24 to 15 percent.

The rural-urban gap in college degrees has increased, with 33 percent in urban areas in 2015 having a bachelor's degree or higher, up from 26 percent in 2000, an increase of seven percent, compared to the four percent increase in rural areas. Rural areas are closing the gap among residents with a less than a high school diploma, with urban areas now at 13 percent, only two percent better than rural areas.

The report found that economic outcomes play a role in education, with rural counties with low education levels having the worst economic outcomes. The report says, "In 2011-2015, rural low-education counties averaged poverty rates of 24 percent, versus 16 percent for all other rural counties. Furthermore, 40 percent of rural low-education counties are also persistent-poverty counties, with poverty rates of 20 percent or higher consistently since 1980. In addition to higher poverty rates, rural counties with low levels of educational attainment tend to have high unemployment rates." (USDA map: Correlation between low education and poverty in rural counties, 2011-15; click on image for a larger version)