June 21, 2005

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LINCOLN, Neb. — During the past decade, a quarter of current rural Nebraskans moved from one community to another, half took classes or workshops and a fifth now own a business, according to the 2005 Nebraska Rural Poll.

To mark the annual poll's 10th anniversary, University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers this year asked rural residents about changes in their lives over the past decade related to business ownerhship, education, mobility and Internet access.

Results highlight several rural assets important to economic development including entrepreneurial spirit, wide interest in lifelong learning and population mobility, said Randy Cantrell, a rural sociologist in the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources who worked on the scientific survey.

"This shows vibrancy. My take on these results is that rural Nebraskans are prepared to be part of the 21st century," he said.

Surveys were mailed in March to 6,250 randomly selected households in Nebraska's 84 rural counties. Results are based on 2,851 responses.

Mobility

The number of moves averaged 2.2 among the 25 percent of respondents who had lived in another community during the past 10 years. Younger working age people were most likely to have moved. Among 19- through 29-year-olds, 66 percent reported changing communities while 52 percent of the 30-39 age group moved. Forty-one percent of those who moved had lived in another state, 36 percent had lived in a smaller Nebraska community, 27 percent had lived in a larger Nebraska community and an additional 18 percent had lived in Lincoln or Omaha. Numbers total more than 100 percent because respondents could check more than one answer.

"This shows that rural Nebraska has a mobile population and it's not all a one-way street," said Bruce Johnson, an IANR agricultural economist on the poll team.

These results tend to counter the notion that rural areas have stagnant populations and attract few young or working age skilled workers, researchers said.

"We can see we have young people who have come to rural Nebraska from larger places during their earning years," Cantrell said. "It may not be as many as we would like, but we have some movement."

People in professional, technical administrative and sales jobs were the most likely to move with 35 percent reporting they'd changed communities in the past 10 years. Results also show that better educated and skilled workers tend to be more mobile.

"It's good to have these people here but we have to work to see that rural opportunities continue or they'll leave," Johnson said.

Business ownership

Entrepreneurship is a significant aspect of rural life, results show. Overall, 20 percent of respondents said they own a business, which includes everything from a farm to a retail store or home-based business. Thirteen percent of respondents said they had started a business in the past decade, 10 percent closed a business and 4 percent tried unsuccessfully to start one.

Johnson said the results reflect the inventive, entrepreneurial nature of rural residents.

"Problem-solving skills are alive and well in rural Nebraska," Johnson said. “Growing up on a farm or ranch, you develop a knack for figuring things out. It's part of the culture."

The smaller the community, the higher the proportion of business owners. Nearly 30 percent of respondents in towns under 500 people owned a business compared with 15 percent of residents in towns of at least 10,000.

Launching a business sometimes is an economic necessity, especially in the smallest towns where conventional jobs are scarce.

"You may just need to wire together your household income," Johnson said. "You look for ways to do that by finding a niche and filling it. These people are creating their own opportunities."

Sixty-one percent of respondents said self-employment is desirable because you can be your own boss and 44 percent think self-employment offers a better quality of life than being an employee. However, 74 percent agree self-employment means longer hours and 70 percent agree the cost of health insurance makes self-employment unappealing.

Health insurance is a national issue, Johnson said, but state policy-makers might want to explore ways to provide group coverage for entrepreneurs. "There may be some opportunities to reduce risk and get a huge payoff."

Lifelong learning

Rural Nebraskans seem to believe in education and take advantage of lifelong learning opportunities, the poll indicates. Half of rural residents took formal education courses, workshops or other training in the past decade.

The percentages of people in each age group that took classes or training were: 19-29, 85 percent; 30-39, 71 percent; 40-49, 62 percent; 50-64, 57 percent; and 65 and older, 23 percent.

This broad educational involvement bodes well for rural development because employers want well-educated people who are willing to learn new skills, Cantrell said.

"Across the board you have this model of rural Nebraska being a lifelong learning environment," he explained. "Rural Nebraskans want to adapt and improve themselves."

The poll is the largest annual survey of rural Nebraskans' perceptions on quality of life and policy issues. This year's response rate was 46 percent. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent. Complete results are available online at Nebraska Rural Poll.

The poll is conducted by the university's Center for Applied Rural Innovation with funding from the Partnership for Rural Nebraska and IANR's UNL Extension and Agricultural Research Division.

6/21/05-VM

Becky Vogt
Center for Applied Rural Innovation
Nebraska Rural Poll Project Manager
(402) 329-4821

Bruce Johnson - Ph.D.
Agricultural Economics
Professor
(402) 472-1794

Randy Cantrell - Ph.D.
Center for Applied Rural Innovation
Professor
(402) 472-1772

Vicki Miller
Research Communications Coordinator
(402) 472-3813

Department: Center for Applied Rural Innovation