People are leaving large urban areas for the rural life

Gabriella Hoffman:

Some new census data found rural counties, not cities, are making a comeback—which spells good news for our country.

Last week, findings from Pew Charitable Trusts' "Stateline" blog found that rural countries saw sizable growth in 2016 and 2017. This marked the first time since 2010 where rural areas saw a noticeable spike in population growth. This blog was founded in 1998 on the pretext of "daily reporting and analysis on trends in state policy" rooted in "non-partisanship, objectivity, and integrity."

The study also found that rural areas grew approximately 33,000 residents nationwide during this time frame, despite losing over 15,000 residents in the year prior. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines rural areas as "counties outside cities and their suburbs." They cited Jackson County, Georgia, as a prime example of a rural area benefitting from this population shift....

The census data also found population growth in major urban outposts has started to decrease. It stated that growth in urban counties "dropped back to about 900,000 between 2015 and 2016 and to a little more than 700,000 for the period covered in today’s release of census data." Chicago's infamous Cook County lost the most residents between 2016 and 2017—totaling 20,000 residents. These findings also mentioned that urban counties surrounding Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Detroit and Brooklyn had seen a loss of residents during this time, as well.

Per census findings from December 2016, those who reside in rural counties are more likely to own their own homes, serve in the military, and live in their home state.
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I was ahead of this trend moving out of Houston 20 years ago.  I built a home in rural Washington County about 80 miles from Houston.  I have not regretted it even though I drive 20 miles to the grocery store.  I am a retired corporate attorney.