Economic Data Built for Rural America

For years, rural communities have had to navigate their futures with data that wasn’t built for them. National headlines focus on metropolitan trends. State and national aggregates flatten local nuance. And many of the most important economic indicators either overlook rural places entirely or bury their stories inside datasets that are hard to interpret without a data team. This is a gap that is holding rural America back.

Lack of access to good data is a threat to rural prosperity. When reliable county-level data disappears, rural leaders lose their map for economic growth, entrepreneurs lose a way to understand opportunities, and communities risk planning in the dark.

That’s why the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) built the Rural Economic Development Tool, a first-of-its-kind platform that brings together federal economic and demographic datasets into a cohesive, accessible narrative designed specifically for rural contexts. With this tool, for the first time, rural community leaders can explore clear, accessible economic insights built specifically for them.

Why Rural Data Matters — and What Happens When It Disappears

Public data from sources like the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Census Bureau has long been the backbone of economic planning in rural America. For many rural communities, these national datasets are the primary source of insight into local economic conditions.

This dependence creates a sharp asymmetry. Most metropolitan areas benefit from a combination of federal data, locally collected municipal data, private-sector analytics, and dedicated staff with the capacity to interpret it. Rural communities, by contrast, are far more reliant on detailed county-level public data, often with limited local capacity to collect, analyze, or contextualize additional information.

That foundation is now at risk. Chronic underfunding and cuts to federal data agencies have already eliminated key county-level series and reduced survey capacity. When small-geography data disappears, the impact falls disproportionately on rural places.

Without good data, rural communities lose their roadmap. Leaders lack the insights they need to make evidence-based decisions. Entrepreneurs struggle to demonstrate market opportunity. Grant writers lose the ability to make persuasive, data-backed cases for investment. Policy conversations default to anecdotes rather than evidence.

That’s why building new, rural-centered data infrastructure matters so urgently. These tools don’t just preserve access to data; they also make it usable through clear benchmarks, peer comparisons, and expert interpretation designed for rural contexts.

From one tool to a whole ecosystem

What began as a painstaking, custom report process evolved into an automated diagnostic tool, and eventually into the dynamic public platform communities can access today. With real-time comparisons, customizable rural definitions, and interpretive guidance, the Rural Economic Development Tool has already supported nearly 2,000 users, from PhD economists to local grant writers.

The tool enables users to explore rural county trends, compare communities to peers, and understand economic signals in context, without requiring technical expertise or proprietary datasets. It reflects a simple but powerful belief: rural leaders deserve timely, trustworthy data they can actually use.

Nearly 2,000 users, including economists, economic developers, community advocates, fellows, and rural leaders, are already using the tool to explore rural county trends, understand economic context, and prepare persuasive, data-driven presentations. Through partnerships like the International Economic Development Council’s Economic Recovery Corps, rural fellows rely on the platform to write reports, develop grant applications, and identify opportunities that might otherwise remain invisible.

Why this matters now

At a time when federal data infrastructure faces cuts and discontinuation threats, rural communities need a stable, trusted place to turn for insight. CORI’s tool provides exactly that: a continuously maintained, user-friendly platform designed specifically for rural contexts. It ensures that rural America does not lose visibility just as economic transitions accelerate. 

This work is about protecting access, preserving clarity, and strengthening local decision-making.

What’s next

The Rural Economic Development Tool is a major step forward, but it is not the end of the story.

Next, CORI is building the Rural Insights Hub, a transformative new digital platform that expands on the tool’s foundation and connects rural data to action. Funded through Cisco’s Global Impact Grant, the Hub will bring together economic insights, workforce and skills pathways, and founder connectivity into one integrated system.

Powered by the Rural Economic Development Tool as its data engine, the Rural Insights Hub will:

  • Expand leadership intelligence with deeper, multidimensional datasets
  • Introduce new capabilities like economic twinning, helping communities identify peer regions and learn from one another
  • Connect insights to AI and digital skills training, entrepreneurship pathways, and access to capital and mentorship

Together, these capabilities will transform rural data from static information into practical infrastructure for growth.

A More Complete Story of Rural America

Rural communities deserve tools that reflect their strengths, complexity, and potential. CORI is building national infrastructure where rural America is not an afterthought—but a leader in the AI-era economy. The Rural Economic Development Tool delivers clarity today, and the Rural Insights Hub is how we will scale that impact tomorrow.

Together, they represent a new era of rural data access and infrastructure.

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