Rural in the News

Federal Funding in Rural America Goes Far Beyond Agriculture

"For the first time in the nearly 40 years that ERS has been analyzing the geographic distribution of Federal spending, rural areas received more in total per capita Federal funding ($7,473) in fiscal year (FY) 2005 than urban areas ($7,391).  This reversal is likely due to changes in the housing market, as many home buyers—particularly in urban areas—opted to use more flexible and risky private-sector mortgages instead of federally insured mortgages in 2005. Between 2004 and 2005, community resource programs, including housing, infrastructure, and business assistance, declined 34 percent in urban areas but only 3 percent in rural areas. Recently, many urban home buyers began using federally backed mortgages again, suggesting that the rural funding advantage may be short lived."

Source: Amber Waves, March 2009 Issue.

Read the full ERS findings here.