This government report presents information on age, sex, labor force activities, and race and ethnic origin of the rural and rural farm population for 1987. Also included are fertility characteristics for the June 1987 Current Population Survey (CPS) supplement and data from the March 1987 CPS supplement on marital status, household, family composition, and income and poverty. The number of people living in rural areas of the United States in 1987 was 63.8 million, with about 4.9 million of these living on farms. Farm residents represented 30.2% of the total population in 1920 but by 1987, that figure had fallen to 2%. Half the farm population lived in the Midwest, with the South containing 29 percent of the population, according to the 1987 figures. There was a higher proportion of Whites and lower proportions of Blacks and people of Hispanic origin on farms as compared with the nonfarm population. The median age of rural farm residents was 37.6 years in 1987. About 69% of farm residents age 15 or older were in the labor force in 1987, compared with 65% of the nonfarm population. Farm residents of both sexes were much more likely to be self-employed or unpaid family workers and less likely to work for wages and salaries. Money income for the year 1986 was generally lower for households and families living on farms than for those in nonfarm areas. The median income was $21,655 for farm households and $24,979 for nonfarm households. The document includes 5 graphs, 16 pages of tables and an appendix of "Definitions and Explanations." (TES)