What small town people see as their biggest challenges and what topics rural people most want help with

Since 2015, over 1400 people answered the Survey of Rural Challenges. It uncovered big disconnects between what rural people want and what media, service providers and policy makers provide.

Services and assistance commonly offered to rural people don’t match up with what rural people say they want help with.

photo (CC) Dave Gray

Common themes in media coverage and policy conversation around rural communities don’t match rural views.

What urban and suburban people think of rural challenges is tinged by stereotypes that don’t agree with what rural people are thinking.

Discover what the Survey of Rural Challenges reveals about rural people's own view from 2015 to 2021

24 minute video presentation uncovers mismatches in media themes, rural services and ongoing rural challenges

Presented by Becky McCray and Deb Brown, co-founders of SaveYour.Town

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Downloadable reports from 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021
Audio only of the presentation
Transcript of the presentation

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Who this survey matters most for

If you live in a small town, you may want to see how your challenges compare to other towns.

Sometimes you might feel like you’re the only one who faces these challenges. You might even feel like you’re somehow a failure for not getting more done in your town. I think you’ll be surprised how common the challenges are. You’re not alone.

If you provide services or assistance to small towns in your work, you will want to find out more about rural people’s own view of their challenges.

You may wonder if the type of assistance you provide is the right match for your communities, and you might realize that the people you’re helping may not be totally honest with you, or maybe they have a vested interest in continuing things as they’ve always been. In this survey, a broad sample of rural people have been free to share the unvarnished truth as they see it. You might learn that services that have been your mainstay for years are no longer a good fit for the challenges rural communities say they really struggle with.

If you cover rural stories for any type of media, you want to break through shallow stereotyped coverage, It may help to hear the relative importance of different challenges to rural people.

Story assignments that draw conclusions for you keep you from telling the real stories, and you know there are limits to how deeply you can dive into rural communities as an outsider. You’re up against time constraints, budget limits and cultural barriers. The people you find in the coffee shop at 2 in the afternoon may not reflect the full spectrum of rural people.

Do you serve in one of these organizations?

Economic development
- Jobs development authorities, industrial development groups
- Workforce boards
Community development, community foundations
Professionals who serve small towns
- Engineers, planners, architects
- Economic development and related consultants
Rural utilities, cooperatives
Rural banks, lenders
Local governments, Tribes, Planning and zoning, COGs
Educational institutions, schools, tech centers, community colleges, universities
Newspapers, rural media, online media

These survey results are crucial to understanding what rural people most need from you.

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Methodology

Across 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021, a total of 1446 responses were collected online from subscribers and visitors to SaveYour.Town and SmallBizSurvival.com, from media coverage and cooperating groups that publicized the survey. Respondents identified themselves as rural by completing the survey, and 785 identified themselves as business owners by responding to the business questions.

Most people were from the United States, 79 from Canada, 24 from Australia and 19 from other international locations.

Based on SaveYour.Town customer data, most respondents likely serve as community leaders and officials, work in community and economic development, own their own business or work in a community-oriented business.

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Video Survey of Rural Challenges 2015-2021

What over 1400 rural people said from 2015 to 2021

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