During 1981-84, migration patterns of both the poor and nonpoor consistently reinforced preexisting spatial concentrations of poverty. High migration rates of the poor into and out of high poverty counties suggest an equilibrium condition. A locale's persistent poverty may result not from lack of opportunity but from an opportunity structure that…

In 1989, 31.6 percent of the rural poor lived in persistent-poverty counties (those with poverty rates exceeding 20 percent for every decennial census year since 1960), and an additional 12.6 percent lived in "new" high-poverty counties. While this represents less than half the rural poor, high and persistent poverty is of particular…

Although rural poverty began to decline, 1994-95, many rural households had incomes just above poverty. Rural minorities were especially disadvantaged; racial differences in educational attainment accounted for 20-33% of income gaps. One-quarter of rural children lived in poverty, most in single-parent households. Most rural poor families lived in…