"Small Towns. Big Opportunities."

Georgetown University's Center for Education and the Workforce recently published Small Towns, Big Opportunities.  The subhead is: "Many Workers in Rural Areas Have Good Jobs, but These Areas Need Greater Investment in Education, Training, and Career Counseling."  

Here's part of the summary:

Rural America has long been perceived as “left behind” by policies that leave it struggling while benefiting bustling urban cities and suburbs. That narrative holds some truth: rural America has a declining population, along with lower educational attainment and lower workforce participation than urban America. But while rural America certainly faces challenges, it also has its own strengths and assets.

Small Towns, Big Opportunities: Many Workers in Rural Areas Have Good Jobs, but These Areas Need Greater Investment in Education, Training, and Career Counseling counters some of the negative stereotypes and finds that working adults in rural America are almost as likely (50 percent) as working adults in urban America (54 percent) to have a good job. 

Under the heading "Rural America's Assets" is this: 

The rural workforce represents 13 percent of the total 25-to-64-year-old working population in the US and holds 12 percent, or a roughly proportionate share, of the country’s good jobs. In particular, the blue-collar economy in rural America is strong, as blue-collar occupations employ 31 percent of rural workers compared to 21 percent of urban workers. Due to this strong blue-collar economy, workers with lower levels of educational attainment fare better in rural areas than in urban areas. For example, workers with a high school diploma as their highest level of attainment hold 26 percent of good jobs in rural areas, compared to 15 percent of good jobs in urban areas.