Published on Daily Yonder (http://www.dailyyonder.com) Rural America's Most Prosperous Counties

If you were looking for a rural community where people worked, graduated from school, lived in good homes and stayed out of poverty, this list is where you'd want to start.

By Bill Bishop [1]

Fannin County, Georgia is one of the 289 "prosperous" counties, as defined by University of Illinois economist Andrew Isserman. This photo was taken in the town

of Blue Ridge.Photo: terrapin dawg [2]

There are 289 rural counties that have better housing, a more educated population, less poverty and more jobs than the national average. Those counties are listed below.

They can be found in Georgia and Wisconsin, Kentucky and North Dakota. These prosperous places aren�t vacation havens or golf course retirement compounds. They are everyday places, most of them, where people live, work and learn. They are examples of the kind of communities every rural county can become.

The list comes from Andrew Isserman, an economist at the University of Illinois. Isserman recently proposed that instead of looking for success in growing populations and higher incomes, rural communities should seek to become prosperous. They should be places with affordable and well-maintained housing; a well-educated population;

plenty of work; and few poor families. (See the Yonder for a full report on Isserman � s study [3] .)

Isserman applied his test to every county in the United States. Today, we look at the most rural of Isserman�s prosperous counties.

These are counties that have either 90 percent of their populations living in rural areas or have no town with a population of more than 10,000 people. These counties aren�t close to urban areas and they have a low population density. There are 1,371 strictly rural counties in these terms and 289 are prosperous, according to Isserman.

The Illinois economist finds a number of traits common to these counties. They aren�t on four-lane highways, particularly. They do have more family farms. Check out the Yonder story [4] for more or go straight to Isserman � s paper [5] .

Here are the counties. They are listed by state in alphabetical order and the list includes their 2000 population.

Prosperous Counties

Population 2000

Chaffee County, Colorado 16,242

Cheyenne County, Colorado 2,231

Delta County, Colorado 27,834

Grand County, Colorado 12,442

Kiowa County, Colorado 1,622

Kit Carson County, Colorado 8,011

Mineral County, Colorado 831

Phillips County, Colorado 4,480

Routt County, Colorado 19,690

Sedgwick County, Colorado 2,747

Washington County, Colorado 4,926

Fannin County, 19,798

GeorgiaTowns County,

Georgia 9,319

Camas County, Idaho 991

Caribou County, Idaho 7,304

Oneida County, Idaho 4,125

Clark County, Illinois 17,008

Clay County, Illinois 14,560

Crawford County, Illinois 20,452

De Witt County, Illinois 16,798

Edwards County, Illinois 6,971

Hancock County, Illinois 20,121

Jasper County, Illinois 10,117

Jo Daviess County, Illinois 22,289

Schuyler County, Illinois 7,189

Shelby County, Illinois 22,893

Washington County, Illinois 15,148

Fountain County, Indiana 17,954

Fulton County, Indiana 20,511

Jay County, Indiana 21,806Orange County,

Indiana 19,306

Parke County, Indiana 17,241

Pulaski County, Indiana 13,755

Randolph County, Indiana 27,401

Ripley County, Indiana 26,523

Spencer County, Indiana 20,391

Warren County, Indiana 8,419

White County, Indiana 25,267

Adair County, Iowa 8,243Adams County,

Iowa 4,482

Allamakee County, Iowa 14,675

Audubon County, Iowa 6,830

Butler County, Iowa 15,305Calhoun County,

Iowa 11,115

Carroll County, Iowa 21,421

Cass County, Iowa 14,684Cedar County, Iowa 18,187Cherokee County,

Iowa 13,035

Clayton County, Iowa 18,678

Delaware County, Iowa 18,404

Emmet County, Iowa 11,027

Fayette County, Iowa 22,008

Floyd County, Iowa 16,900Franklin County,

Iowa 10,704

Fremont County, Iowa 8,010

Greene County, Iowa 10,366

Hamilton County, Iowa 16,438

Hancock County, Iowa 12,100

Hardin County, Iowa 18,812

Henry County, Iowa 20,336Humboldt County,

Iowa 10,381

Ida County, Iowa 7,837Iowa County, Iowa 15,671

Jackson County, Iowa 20,296

Jefferson County, Iowa 16,181

Keokuk County, Iowa 11,400

Kossuth County, Iowa 17,163

Lyon County, Iowa 11,763Mitchell County,

Iowa 10,874

Monona County, Iowa 10,020

Monroe County, Iowa 8,016

O'Brien County, Iowa 15,102

Osceola County, Iowa 7,003

Palo Alto County, Iowa 10,147

Plymouth County, Iowa 24,849

Pocahontas County, Iowa 8,662

Poweshiek County, Iowa 18,815

Sac County, Iowa 11,529Shelby County,

Iowa 13,173

Sioux County, Iowa 31,589Tama County, Iowa 18,103Taylor County, Iowa 6,958Union County, Iowa 12,309Winnebago County,

Iowa 11,723

Winneshiek County, Iowa 21,310

Wright County, Iowa 14,334

Barber County, Kansas 5,307

Chautauqua County, Kansas 4,359

Cheyenne County, Kansas 3,165

Clay County, Kansas 8,822

Cloud County, Kansas 10,268

Coffey County, Kansas 8,865

Comanche County, Kansas 1,967

Decatur County, Kansas 3,472

Dickinson County, Kansas 19,344

Edwards County, Kansas 3,449

Ellsworth County, Kansas 6,525

Gove County, Kansas 3,068

Graham County, Kansas 2,946

Harper County, Kansas 6,536

Haskell County, Kansas 4,307

Hodgeman County, Kansas 2,085

Jewell County, Kansas 3,791

Kingman County, Kansas 8,673

Kiowa County, Kansas 3,278

Lane County, Kansas 2,155

Lincoln County, Kansas 3,578

Logan County, Kansas 3,046

Marion County, Kansas 13,361

Marshall County, Kansas 10,965

Meade County, Kansas 4,631

Mitchell County, Kansas 6,932

Morris County, Kansas 6,104

Morton County, Kansas 3,496

Nemaha County, Kansas 10,717

Ness County, Kansas 3,454

Norton County, Kansas 5,953

Osborne County, Kansas 4,452

Phillips County, Kansas 6,001

Pratt County, Kansas 9,647

Republic County, Kansas 5,835

Rooks County, Kansas 5,685

Rush County, Kansas 3,551

Russell County, Kansas 7,370

Smith County, Kansas 4,536

Stafford County, Kansas 4,789

Stevens County, Kansas 5,463

Trego County, Kansas 3,319

Washington County, Kansas 6,483

Harrison County, Kentucky 17,983

Marshall County, Kentucky 30,125

Simpson County, Kentucky 16,405

Hancock County, Maine 51,791

Lincoln County, Maine 33,616

Oxford County, Maine 54,755

Otsego County, Michigan 23,301

Big Stone County, Minnesota 5,820

Chippewa County, Minnesota 13,088

Cottonwood County, Minnesota 12,167

Faribault County, Minnesota 16,181

Grant County, Minnesota 6,289

Jackson County, Minnesota 11,268

Kittson County, Minnesota 5,285

Koochiching County, Minnesota 14,355

Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota 8,067

Lake County, Minnesota 11,058

Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota 4,522

Le Sueur County, Minnesota 25,426

Lincoln County, Minnesota 6,429

Meeker County, Minnesota 22,644

Mille Lacs County, Minnesota 22,330

Morrison County, Minnesota 31,712

Murray County, Minnesota 9,165

Pipestone County, Minnesota 9,895

Pope County, Minnesota 11,236

Redwood County, Minnesota 16,815

Renville County, Minnesota 17,154

Rock County, Minnesota 9,721

Roseau County, Minnesota 16,338

Sibley County, Minnesota 15,356

Swift County, Minnesota 11,956

Traverse County, Minnesota 4,134

Waseca County, Minnesota 19,526

Watonwan County, Minnesota 11,876

Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota 11,080

Chariton County, Missouri 8,438

Gasconade County, Missouri 15,342

Gentry County, Missouri 6,861

Monroe County, Missouri 9,311

Perry County, Missouri 18,132

Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri 17,842

Sweet Grass County, Montana 3,609

Boone County, Nebraska 6,259

Box Butte County, Nebraska 12,158

Brown County, Nebraska 3,525

Burt County, Nebraska 7,791

Butler County, Nebraska 8,767

Cedar County, Nebraska 9,615

Cherry County, Nebraska 6,148

Cheyenne County, Nebraska 9,830

Cuming County, Nebraska 10,203

Deuel County, Nebraska 2,098

Fillmore County, Nebraska 6,634

Frontier County, Nebraska 3,099

Furnas County, Nebraska 5,324

Grant County, Nebraska 747

Hamilton County, Nebraska 9,403

Harlan County, Nebraska 3,786

Hooker County, Nebraska 783

Jefferson County, Nebraska 8,333

Johnson County, Nebraska 4,488

Keith County, Nebraska 8,875

Nuckolls County, Nebraska 5,057

Otoe County, Nebraska 15,396

Pawnee County, Nebraska 3,087

Phelps County, Nebraska 9,747

Polk County, Nebraska 5,639

Red Willow County, Nebraska 11,448

Richardson County, Nebraska 9,531

Saline County, Nebraska 13,843

Thayer County, Nebraska 6,055

York County, Nebraska 14,598

Carroll County, New Hampshire 43,666

Adams County, North Dakota 2,593

Barnes County, North Dakota 11,775

Bottineau County, North Dakota 7,149

Bowman County, North Dakota 3,242

Cavalier County, North Dakota 4,831

Eddy County, North Dakota 2,757

Foster County, North Dakota 3,759

Griggs County, North Dakota 2,754

Mercer County, North Dakota 8,644

Nelson County, North Dakota 3,715

Pembina County, North Dakota 8,585

Ransom County, North Dakota 5,890

Sargent County, North Dakota 4,366

Steele County, North Dakota 2,258

Towner County, North Dakota 2,876

Traill County, North Dakota 8,477

Paulding County, Ohio 20,293

Putnam County, Ohio 34,726

Wyandot County, Ohio 22,908

Beaver County, Oklahoma 5,857

Harper County, Oklahoma 3,562

Kingfisher County, Oklahoma 13,926

Major County, Oklahoma 7,545

Tillamook County, Oregon 24,262

Bedford County, Pennsylvania 49,984

Fulton County, Pennsylvania 14,261

Susquehanna County,

Pennsylvania42,238

Wayne County, Pennsylvania 47,722

Custer County, South Dakota 7,275

Deuel County, South Dakota 4,498

Grant County, South Dakota 7,847

Hand County, South Dakota 3,741

Hyde County, South Dakota 1,671

Kingsbury County, South Dakota 5,815

Lake County, South Dakota 11,276

Miner County, South Dakota 2,884

Moody County, South Dakota 6,595

Sully County, South Dakota 1,556

Giles County, Tennessee 29,447

Humphreys County, Tennessee 17,929

Fayette County, Texas 21,804

Gillespie County, Texas 20,814

Hartley County, Texas 5,537

Kent County, Texas 859Loving County,

Texas 67

Reagan County, Texas 3,326

Beaver County, Utah 6,005

Kane County, Utah 6,046Rich County, Utah 1,961Addison County,

Vermont 35,974

Windham County, Vermont 44,216

Alleghany County, Virginia 12,926

Bath County, Virginia 5,048

Bland County, Virginia 6,871

Essex County, Virginia 9,989

King George County, Virginia 16,803

Madison County, Virginia 12,520

Northumberland County, Virginia 12,259

Rappahannock County, Virginia 6,983

Rockbridge County, Virginia 20,808

Shenandoah County, Virginia 35,075

Wythe County, Virginia 27,599

Barron County, Wisconsin 44,963

Buffalo County, Wisconsin 13,804

Crawford County, Wisconsin 17,243

Door County, Wisconsin 27,961

Green Lake County, Wisconsin 19,105

Lafayette County, Wisconsin 16,137

Marquette County, Wisconsin 15,832

Monroe County, Wisconsin 40,899

Pepin County, Wisconsin 7,213

Polk County, Wisconsin 41,319

Price County, Wisconsin 15,822

Richland County, Wisconsin 17,924

Shawano County, Wisconsin 40,664

Taylor County, Wisconsin 19,680

Trempealeau County, Wisconsin 27,010

Waupaca County, Wisconsin 51,731

Converse County, Wyoming 12,052

Crook County, Wyoming 5,887

Hot Springs County, Wyoming 4,882

Lincoln County, Wyoming 14,573

Sublette County, Wyoming 5,920

Weston County, Wyoming 6,644

Source URL: http://www.dailyyonder.com/rural-americas-most-prosperous-counties

Links:[1] http://www.dailyyonder.com/author/bill-bishop-0[2] http://www.flickr.com/photos/uga/[3] http://www.dailyyonder.com/finding-rural-americas-prosperous-communities[4] http://www.dailyyonder.com/finding-rural-americas-prosperous-communities[5] http://www.ace.uiuc.edu/Reap/Papers.htm