John Cromartie is a geographer with the USDA’s Resource and Rural Economics Division. He conducts research on rural population change, rural housing, and rural-urban classifications and recently completed a collaborative, field-based study of return migration to rural communities. Cromartie holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Geography, and a B.A. in History, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/Kj9Q4uR1f-hfXAYAMz5VEm4aPyjenrmLUWvufUhdOhw/w:256/h:171/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL29sZF9mYXJtaG91c2UuanBn.jpg)
Rural America
Rural America’s Population Declines for the Sixth Straight Year
John Cromartie