The Quality of Life in Rural America

Abstract

Attempts to measure quality of life (QOL) in rural America have gone through three stages, focusing first on economic well-being, later on a broad array of so-called ob jective indicators, and finally on subjective evaluations. All remain important to gaining a comprehensive understanding of the QOL in rural America. An analysis of objective con ditions points to several areas of deprivation among rural people, especially economic well-being and the receipt of institutional services, but suggests they are better off than urban Americans with respect to their material and social environment. Rural people's subjective assessments are strik ingly consistent with the objective conditions of their environ ment. However, they evaluate their overall QOL more positively than do urban Americans, possibly because they give greater weight to the relatively intangible aspects of their environment. A cautious look at the future suggests the current population turnaround and prospects of resource scarcity are critical factors likely to affect the QOL enjoyed by rural Americans.