Rural US disappearing? Population share hits low

WASHINGTON — Rural Amer­ica now accounts for just 16 per­cent of the nation’s pop­u­la­tion, the low­est ever. The lat­est 2010 cen­sus num­bers hint at an emerg­ing Amer­ica where, by mid­cen­tury, city bound­aries become indis­tinct and rural areas grow ever less rel­e­vant. Many com­mu­ni­ties could shrink to vir­tual ghost towns as they shut­ter busi­nesses and close down schools, demog­ra­phers say.