Rural U.S. is disappearing, Census says

New U.S. Census figures show that the population of rural America has shrunk to an all time low. Just 16 percent of the country’s population lives in rural areas, less than the previous low of 20 percent in 2000, the Associated Press reports. One hundred years ago, 72 percent of Americans lived in rural communities.

"Some of the most isolated rural areas face a major uphill battle, with a broad area of the country emptying out," said Mark Mather, associate vice president of research group Population Reference Bureau told the AP. "Many rural areas can't attract workers because there aren't any jobs, and businesses won't relocate there because there aren't enough qualified workers. So they are caught in a downward spiral."

Nonmetropolitan areas with fewer than 50,000 people are considered “rural.”

Among the communities with the biggest population losses: Issaquena, Jefferson and Sharkey in Mississippi; Sheridan and Towner in North Dakota; Kiowa in Kansas; Cimarron in Oklahoma; Tensas Parish in Louisiana; Monroe in Arkansas and Cottle, King and Culberson in Texas.

Meanwhile, metropolitan areas, especially the suburbs and small- and medium-sized cities, have grown 11 percent since 2000. The percentage of Americans living in suburbs is now 51 percent.

Shrinking population means services are disappearing from rural areas, too. Delta Air Lines is ending flights to 24 small airports, and the U.S. Postal Service may close thousands of post offices in rural areas.

(Global post reports: Postal Service to close 3,700 post offices)

And rural Americans are more likely to suffer from chronic health problems and face greater difficulty accessing quality healthcare than urban counterparts, according to a UnitedHealth Center for Health & Reform Modernization study released on Wednesday, Reuters reports.