Rural population in North America
North America: Rural population was 74.83 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in North America, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
North America recorded 74.83 million for rural population in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
The figure is up 0.2% on the previous year and up 8.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in North America peaked at 74.83 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 58.89 million, in 1968.
That places North America 42nd out of 47 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Rural population in North America, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 59.78 million | — |
| 1961 | 59.83 million | +0.1% |
| 1962 | 59.74 million | -0.1% |
| 1963 | 59.57 million | -0.3% |
| 1964 | 59.39 million | -0.3% |
| 1965 | 59.18 million | -0.4% |
| 1966 | 59.02 million | -0.3% |
| 1967 | 58.92 million | -0.2% |
| 1968 | 58.89 million | -0.0% |
| 1969 | 59.02 million | +0.2% |
| 1970 | 59.48 million | +0.8% |
| 1971 | 60.21 million | +1.2% |
| 1972 | 60.82 million | +1.0% |
| 1973 | 61.40 million | +1.0% |
| 1974 | 61.99 million | +1.0% |
| 1975 | 62.63 million | +1.0% |
| 1976 | 63.22 million | +1.0% |
| 1977 | 63.83 million | +1.0% |
| 1978 | 64.44 million | +1.0% |
| 1979 | 65.07 million | +1.0% |
| 1980 | 65.61 million | +0.8% |
| 1981 | 66.11 million | +0.8% |
| 1982 | 66.52 million | +0.6% |
| 1983 | 66.83 million | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 67.05 million | +0.3% |
| 1985 | 67.25 million | +0.3% |
| 1986 | 67.45 million | +0.3% |
| 1987 | 67.63 million | +0.3% |
| 1988 | 67.79 million | +0.2% |
| 1989 | 67.98 million | +0.3% |
| 1990 | 68.23 million | +0.4% |
| 1991 | 68.43 million | +0.3% |
| 1992 | 68.43 million | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 68.20 million | -0.3% |
| 1994 | 67.78 million | -0.6% |
| 1995 | 67.27 million | -0.8% |
| 1996 | 66.75 million | -0.8% |
| 1997 | 66.30 million | -0.7% |
| 1998 | 65.92 million | -0.6% |
| 1999 | 65.68 million | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 65.60 million | -0.1% |
| 2001 | 65.53 million | -0.1% |
| 2002 | 65.38 million | -0.2% |
| 2003 | 65.19 million | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 65.06 million | -0.2% |
| 2005 | 64.98 million | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 65.01 million | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 65.13 million | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 65.36 million | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 65.69 million | +0.5% |
| 2010 | 66.17 million | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 66.69 million | +0.8% |
| 2012 | 67.26 million | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 67.85 million | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 68.52 million | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 69.22 million | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 70.01 million | +1.1% |
| 2017 | 70.81 million | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 71.62 million | +1.2% |
| 2019 | 72.48 million | +1.2% |
| 2020 | 73.19 million | +1.0% |
| 2021 | 73.21 million | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 73.57 million | +0.5% |
| 2023 | 74.11 million | +0.7% |
| 2024 | 74.71 million | +0.8% |
| 2025 | 74.83 million | +0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 59.33 million | 58.89 million | 59.83 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 62.31 million | 59.48 million | 65.07 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 67.02 million | 65.61 million | 67.98 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 67.30 million | 65.68 million | 68.43 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 65.29 million | 64.98 million | 65.69 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 69.06 million | 66.17 million | 72.48 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 73.94 million | 73.19 million | 74.83 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near North America
More agriculture & rural data for North America
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0099 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2021)
- Rural population 19.5% (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.2% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 11.18 % change on previous year (2021)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.0% (2021)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 256.06 billion current US$ (2021)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.8% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.9% (2024)
- Rural population, per capita 0.1951 units per person (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in North America?
- Rural population in North America was 74.83 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in North America?
- The highest recorded value was 74.83 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 58.89 million in 1968.
- How does North America rank for rural population?
- North America ranks 42nd out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this North America data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.