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Rural Vs. Urban Divide About Financial Future

American Flag With Money
storyblocks.com

The rural-urban divide is widening politically. Despite a strong economy, there is also a rural-urban divide over personal financial security.

Kim Parker is director of social trends at Pew Research. She says this rural-urban divide is essentially a question of jobs.

“So rural areas are losing residents. And that probably also has to do with job opportunities. And we see that population growth is much stronger in suburban and urban areas,” Parker said.

One reason for rural pessimism is an education gap causing its population to migrate to urban areas to find work. That trend in showing up in Arizona. Maricopa County is the fastest growing county in the country. Pew classifies Maricopa as an urban county surrounded by rural counties.

Only one-third of people who live in rural communities believe they’ll have the resources needed to finance their future. But that’s if they didn’t go to college.

“Rural residents were much less optimistic about their financial prospects in the future. People in rural areas without a college education were particularly likely to say that the availability of good jobs was a big problem where they live,” Parker said.

Among rural residents who do have a college degree, about half the community is considered “financially optimistic.”

Heather van Blokland was a host at KJZZ from 2016 to 2021.