Source: USDA, Economic Research Service

Persistent Poverty Counties are those that have had poverty rates of 20% or higher in every decennial census between 1970 and 2000.

• 340 of the 386 (88%) Persistently Poor Counties are nonmetro.
• 18% of nonmetro counties are persistent poverty counties, versus only 4% of metro counties.
• The nonmetro South, with over 40 percent of the U.S. nonmetro population, has a significantly higher incidence of poverty. 82% of the nonmetro persistently poor counties are in the South.

• New Perspectives Issue available online. This issue of Perspectives offers a fresh look at effective antipoverty policy in rural communities. The articles explore the basic assumptions behind the causes of rural poverty, underscore the unique role that “place” plays in rural poverty, and call for a new direction in philanthropy that recognizes the critical roles race, class, and power play in perpetuating rural poverty.
• Participation and Employment Dynamics of Child Care Subsidy Users in Rural and Urban Oregon by Elizabeth E. Davis, Deana Grobe, and Roberta B. Weber
  This study analyzes employment and program participation dynamics for rural and urban families in the Oregon child care subsidy program.
• "At the Razor’s Edge: Building Hope for America’s Rural Poor." The Rural Sociological Society has just launched a new informaton/policy series. This first issue addresses the problem of poverty in rural America, making note of the set of options that might offer hope in tackling this difficult issue.
• Global Forces and Individual Coping Strategies for Rural Poverty - Workshop Summary from the RPRC/NERCRD Regional Rural Poverty Conference May 3-4, 2005
• MDC and Duke Complete Rural Poverty Study
  MDC, with Duke University's Terry Sanford Institute for Public Policy, has completed a study of rural poverty based on methodology developed by Duke Professor Anirudh Krishna. The study was conducted this summer among 312 families in four rural North Carolina counties: Gates, Beaufort, Burke, and Vance.
• Rural America at a Glance 2005
  This publication from the USDA Economic Research Service highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas
• Rural Data Project
  The US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation formulated a study to learn more about social and economic conditions and trends in rural areas, identify high-priority family and community needs, and assess current knowledge about such needs and the services available to meet those needs in rural areas.This report describes the study’s activities and findings and presents information on 80 data sources that could be used by the research community to study select human services topics in rural areas.