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By Jasmine Laws
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A new survey has shown that rural America is feeling more optimistic about the country's future, at a time when many others are feeling the opposite.
This comes after a survey by the American Psychological Association showed that nearly two-thirds of America's young people had thought about leaving the U.S. because of the state of the nation, with 76 percent of American adults feeling more concerned about the country's future.
Why It Matters
While a significant proportion of President Donald Trump's supporters are from rural communities, meaning it is not all that surprising that they are more hopeful about the country's future compared to last year, a number of Trump's policies could begin to harm these very communities.
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Policies such as cuts to Medicaid, reductions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), tariffs that impact costs for farmers and small rural businesses, and environmental policy changes are all more likely to hit rural communities the hardest.
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What To Know
The survey from the American Communities Project (ACP), an effort based in Michigan to highlight community differences through data, was released on Monday.
Around 6 in 10 Rural Middle America residents said they were hopeful about the country’s future over the next few years, which was an increase from the 43 percent recorded in the 2024 ACP survey.
This is likely because some rural residents may "believe the political direction of the country is now more aligned with their preferences and values," Shannon Monnat, chair in Public Health Promotion and Population Health and director of the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University, New York, told Newsweek.
She said that rural communities have "leaned increasingly conservative" for several decades, and support for Trump is "especially strong" among these communities, which could mean they feel the country's leadership reflects their priorities, particularly on cultural and social issues.
"This is less about measurable improvements on the ground and more about perceived political representation and the feeling that someone they like is in charge," she said.
Rural communities tend to be concerned with "cultural recognition, respect, and visibility," Monnat said, as many have experienced "long-term economic losses, population aging, poor health, and weakening local institutions," so she added that when their daily life is "shaped by these challenges, national politics can become a symbolic arena where people seek affirmation."
That said, this doesn't mean that those who say they are optimistic about the future aren't still concerned about the rising costs of groceries, heating, health care and many other things.
It's also important to remember that rural communities "vary tremendously in their economies, the types of people who live in them, and political orientations," Monnat said, so not all rural communities will feel the same.
There is not one rural America, but instead several groups within the demographic, each of which faces differing challenges and has differing views—something the survey shows.
In the survey, the rural communities "Native American Lands", "Evangelical Hubs", "Aging Farmlands", "Working Class Country", "Rural Middle America", and "Latter-Day Saint Enclaves", all had an increase in optimism, but other rural communities like "African American South", "Hispanic Centers", and "College Towns" had a decrease in optimism.
"Painting these results as rural versus urban masks the diversity within nonmetropolitan counties, which make up the vast majority of counties in the U.S.," Carrie Henning-Smith, a professor of health policy and management at the University of Minnesota, told Newsweek.
"Some parts of rural America are thriving, while other parts face significant challenges both now and in the future," Kenneth Johnson, a professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, told Newsweek.
He said that some rural areas have "experienced significant population gains in the past few years," which "contributes new energy, expertise and resources to these counties," as well as more opportunities.
However, in other areas, rural counties are depopulating, meaning they reached their peak population decades ago and have now lost around 25 percent of that population, Johnson said.
This is partly because in "the majority of rural counties, more people die than are born each year," as "access to health care is more limited," he added. It is also because many rural areas are losing young adults to urban areas and cities, he said.
What People Are Saying
Shannon Monnat, chair in Public Health Promotion and Population Health and director of the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University, New York, told Newsweek: "Optimism driven by political satisfaction does not necessarily track with objective indicators of wellbeing. There is little evidence that conditions in most rural communities are improving. Many rural areas continue to face rising mortality rates, persistent economic precarity, hospital closures, shortages of health and social service workers, and limited opportunities for young adults. Of course, some rural places are thriving – often those near metro areas or with recreational amenities, but these are exceptions rather than the norm. And actually, support for Trump tends to be lower in thriving rural communities."
Lisa R. Pruitt, president of the Rural Sociological Society and a professor of law at the University of California, Davis, told Newsweek: "Rural residents are attracted to Trump, in part, because they feel he and the Republican Party see them and their needs—they feel he takes them seriously and respects them more than the Democrats do. Rural residents have generally felt neglected by the Democratic Party in recent years, and they are put off by progressive elites, who they associate with the Democratic Party, and who they experience as condescending toward them. Also, it is a fact that the Democratic Party’s national and state candidates and organizations have failed to show up and invest resources in attracting rural voters. In short, there is lots of evidence that the Democrats have largely abandoned attempts to court the rural vote, and that abandonment has fueled rural voter alignment with and loyalty to Trump."
She added: "Interestingly, contrary to the expectations suggested by this rural optimism, various policies of the second Trump administration are likely to hurt rural communities. Ultimately, then, rural voters’ optimism may be dashed by the harsh realities of a loss of services that likely to flow from the One Big Beautiful Bill."
Carrie Henning-Smith, a professor of health policy and management at the University of Minnesota, told Newsweek: "For better or worse, rural America has received a lot of media and policy attention in the past year, including the passage of the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. While that fund will not come close to making up for projected cuts to Medicaid included in the same bill, significant investments like that may be giving some rural residents hope that their concerns are being taken seriously."
She added: "At the same time, some media coverage and political rhetoric has painted urban areas as declining and crime-ridden in the past year, which may cause some rural residents to feel better off in comparison. Additionally, the counties that are most optimistic also include some of the counties with the oldest populations, on average. It's possible that age offers some additional perspective and experience navigating difficult and turbulent times, which may advantage older rural residents. Finally, rural residents across the country have a long history of being innovative and resourceful, using what they have to solve the problem at hand. I wonder if some of that sense of self-reliance helps to promote optimism."
What Happens Next
Given that a number of the Trump administration's policies could harm rural communities, Monnat said that "while optimism may reflect short-term satisfaction with political leadership, the administration's policy choices mean that most rural communities are unlikely to see improved economic and health outcomes in the near future."
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