Rural Laws: April, 2001 - Number #1

The changing face of rural America is one of the most dramatic results of the April 1, 2000 census (www.census.gov/). In many areas of the US that have not received significant numbers of immigrants for 80 years, such as the Midwest and Southeast, Hispanic immigrants arrived during the 1990s to fill jobs in agriculture-related industries such as meatpacking, and then moved on to jobs in construction and services. Many of the stories highlighting the growing diversity of rural America noted that long-term residents tend to be older and whiter than the average US resident.

North Carolina led the US in percentage growth in the Hispanic population, up 394 percent in the 1990s. For example, in Siler City, North Carolina, Hispanics were four percent of the town's 4,808 people in 1990. By 2000, they were 39 percent of the Siler City's 6,966 residents, drawn by jobs at chicken-processing plants and textile mills.

Ben Nichols, human resources manager for the Realistic Furniture division of Klaussner Furniture Industries, said that without Hispanic workers, the company would likely have to close at least three of its 20 plants. In 1997, nine percent of Realistic's 2,300-strong work force was Hispanic; in 2001, Hispanics were 37 percent of 4,300 Realistic workers.

Tennessee's Hispanic population almost tripled in the 1990s to 124,000, while Utah's more than doubled to 202,000. In these states, agriculture was the port of entry for Hispanic immigrants, who soon moved into higher wage jobs that offered year-round employment.

In Minnesota, the number of Hispanic residents tripled to 144,000 in the 1990s, as immigrants were drawn to small towns to fill meatpacking and similar jobs. In Worthington, Hispanics were two percent of 10,000 residents in 1990, and 20 percent of 11,300 in 2000, largely because a ConAgra's Swift & Company meat packing plant recruited workers in south Texas. An opinion poll found that 28 percent of residents thought the changing face of Worthington was good, and 25 percent thought it was bad-45 percent were ambivalent.

In Nebraska, the Hispanic population rose 150 percent in the 1990s to 94,450. About 40 percent of the state's population growth was Hispanics, and Latinos were 45 percent of Schuyler residents.

Nonmetro. Nonmetro or rural America is defined as a residual concept. Metro areas are places (one or more counties) with a city of 50,000 or more residents or an urbanized area with 75,000 to100,000 residents; other areas are nonmetro. For example, the Fresno metropolitan statistical area includes Fresno and Madera counties, the Visalia MSA includes Tulare county, and the Bakersfield MSA includes Kern county, so the three leading farm counties in the US, with total farm sales of almost $10 billion are all in metro areas.

In 2000, there were 280 metro areas with 229 million residents and 52 million nonmetro residents; in 1990, these metro areas had 201 million residents, leaving 48 million nonmetro residents. The nation's nonmetro areas gained population in the 1990s- about 75 percent of the nonmetro counties gained residents in the 1990s, compared to half in the 1980s. The US has 3,141 counties. Los Angeles is the largest county, with 8.9 million residents, and Loving county in Texas is the smallest, with 107 residents.

Genaro C. Armas, "Many Hispanics entering small towns," AP, April 2, 2001. Richard T. Cooper, "Racial, Ethnic Diversity Puts New Face On Middle America," Los Angeles Times, March 31, 2001.