Rural population in United States
United States: Rural population was 67.70 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
67.70 million
Change on year
up 0.2%
World rank
8th
of 218 countries
All-time high
67.70 million
in 2025
All-time low
53.67 million
in 1967
Years of data
66
1960–2025
Rural population in United States, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
United States recorded 67.70 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 8.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in United States peaked at 67.70 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 53.67 million, in 1967.
United States ranks 8th of 218 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Rural population in United States, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 54.24 million | — |
| 1961 | 54.29 million | +0.1% |
| 1962 | 54.24 million | -0.1% |
| 1963 | 54.13 million | -0.2% |
| 1964 | 54.01 million | -0.2% |
| 1965 | 53.86 million | -0.3% |
| 1966 | 53.73 million | -0.2% |
| 1967 | 53.67 million | -0.1% |
| 1968 | 53.70 million | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 53.88 million | +0.3% |
| 1970 | 54.35 million | +0.9% |
| 1971 | 54.96 million | +1.1% |
| 1972 | 55.49 million | +1.0% |
| 1973 | 55.97 million | +0.9% |
| 1974 | 56.45 million | +0.8% |
| 1975 | 56.98 million | +0.9% |
| 1976 | 57.48 million | +0.9% |
| 1977 | 58.02 million | +0.9% |
| 1978 | 58.59 million | +1.0% |
| 1979 | 59.17 million | +1.0% |
| 1980 | 59.65 million | +0.8% |
| 1981 | 60.09 million | +0.7% |
| 1982 | 60.46 million | +0.6% |
| 1983 | 60.75 million | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 60.96 million | +0.4% |
| 1985 | 61.14 million | +0.3% |
| 1986 | 61.30 million | +0.3% |
| 1987 | 61.41 million | +0.2% |
| 1988 | 61.50 million | +0.1% |
| 1989 | 61.58 million | +0.1% |
| 1990 | 61.74 million | +0.3% |
| 1991 | 61.87 million | +0.2% |
| 1992 | 61.83 million | -0.1% |
| 1993 | 61.60 million | -0.4% |
| 1994 | 61.20 million | -0.6% |
| 1995 | 60.72 million | -0.8% |
| 1996 | 60.20 million | -0.8% |
| 1997 | 59.75 million | -0.8% |
| 1998 | 59.37 million | -0.6% |
| 1999 | 59.12 million | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 59.05 million | -0.1% |
| 2001 | 58.96 million | -0.1% |
| 2002 | 58.83 million | -0.2% |
| 2003 | 58.67 million | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 58.57 million | -0.2% |
| 2005 | 58.52 million | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 58.57 million | +0.1% |
| 2007 | 58.69 million | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 58.93 million | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 59.25 million | +0.6% |
| 2010 | 59.71 million | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 60.20 million | +0.8% |
| 2012 | 60.72 million | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 61.25 million | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 61.86 million | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 62.53 million | +1.1% |
| 2016 | 63.26 million | +1.2% |
| 2017 | 64.01 million | +1.2% |
| 2018 | 64.78 million | +1.2% |
| 2019 | 65.61 million | +1.3% |
| 2020 | 66.32 million | +1.1% |
| 2021 | 66.40 million | +0.1% |
| 2022 | 66.69 million | +0.4% |
| 2023 | 67.11 million | +0.6% |
| 2024 | 67.58 million | +0.7% |
| 2025 | 67.70 million | +0.2% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 67.70 million is above the median for high income countries, which is 456,529, 148.3× the median. (85 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 53.97 million | 53.67 million | 54.29 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 56.75 million | 54.35 million | 59.17 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 60.88 million | 59.65 million | 61.58 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 60.74 million | 59.12 million | 61.87 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 58.80 million | 58.52 million | 59.25 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 62.39 million | 59.71 million | 65.61 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 66.97 million | 66.32 million | 67.70 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More agriculture & rural data for United States
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 11.96 % change on previous year (2021)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0094 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2021)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 673.66 current US$ per person (2021)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.1831 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.1981 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 0.9% (2021)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 0.9% (2021)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.6% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.8% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in United States?
- Rural population in United States was 67.70 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 67.70 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 53.67 million in 1967.
- How does United States rank for rural population?
- United States ranks 8th out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States 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.