Family Characteristics

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Figure 1. Percentage of related children ages 5 to 17 in rural areas living in poverty, by state: 2019

Notes

! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate, the type of locale does not exist within the state or jurisdiction, or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.

NOTE: Includes only 5- to 17-year-old related children. Related children include all children who live in a household and are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption (except a child who is the spouse of the householder). The householder is the person (or one of the people) who owns or rents (maintains) the housing unit. Excludes unrelated children and householders who are themselves under the age of 18. Poverty status is determined by the Census Bureau using a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition. For additional information about poverty status, see https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/poverty-measures.html. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey Education Tabulation (ACS-ED), 2019, Custom Tabulated Data File. See Digest of Education Statistics 2020, table 102.45.

In 2019, the poverty rate for related children⁹ ages 5 to 17 in rural areas (14 percent) was higher than in suburban areas (12 percent) but lower than in towns and cities (21 percent each).

• In fall 2019, the percentages of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in rural areas who were Black (9 percent) or Hispanic (15 percent) were lower than the percentages in other locales.¹⁰
• In 2019, the percentage of 5- to 17-year-olds in kindergarten through 12th grade who resided in households with nonparental guardians was higher in rural areas (5 percent) than in suburban areas and cities (3 percent each).
• In 2019, the percentage of 5- to 17-year-olds in kindergarten through 12th grade whose parents or guardians had earned less than a high school diploma as their highest level of education was lower in rural areas (9 percent) than in cities (14 percent), but there was no measurable difference between those in rural areas and those in suburban areas or towns.
• Among the 49 states with poverty data available for rural areas, the percentages of related children in rural areas living in poverty in 2019 ranged from 4 percent in New Jersey to 24 percent in Arizona and New Mexico.

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Figure 2. Among 5- to 17-year-old students with known poverty status living in households, percentage with fixed broadband access to the internet at home and percentage with mobile broadband access to the internet at home, by home locale: 2019

Notes

NOTE: "Fixed broadband access to the internet" excludes households with mobile broadband but includes households with all other non-dial-up internet services, such as DSL, cable modem, and fiber-optic cable. Mobile broadband includes computer and cell phone plans. Data are based on sample surveys of the entire population residing within the United States. This figure includes only students living in households, because respondents living in group quarters (e.g., shelters, healthcare facilities, or correctional facilities) were not asked about internet access. Excludes children under age 15 who are not related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption (e.g., foster children) because their family and individual income is not known and a poverty status cannot be determined for them. Although rounded numbers are displayed, figures are based on unrounded data.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 2019, Restricted-Use Data File. See Digest of Education Statistics 2020, table 218.70.

Compared with students in other locales, in 2019, it was less common for 5- to 17-year-old students in rural areas to have fixed broadband internet access at home and more common for them to have mobile broadband¹¹ internet access at home.

• In 2019, about 7 percent of 5- to 17-year-old students in rural areas were living in homes with either no internet access or only dial-up access. This was higher than the percentages living in towns (6 percent), cities (5 percent), and suburban areas (3 percent).
• Also in 2019, the percentage of students who had only mobile broadband internet access at home was higher for students living in rural areas (16 percent) than for students living in towns (13 percent), cities (12 percent), and suburban areas (8 percent).
• In contrast, the percentage of students who had fixed broadband internet access at home in 2019 was lower for students living in rural areas (76 percent) than for students living in towns (79 percent), cities (80 percent), and suburban areas (87 percent).

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Figure 3. Percentage of kindergartners through fifth-graders whose parents/guardians reported doing education-related activities with their children in the past month, by selected activity and locale: 2019

Notes

NOTE: Excludes children whose parents reported any homeschooling. Locale of student’s household is determined by classifying the household’s residential ZIP code into a set of four major locale categories: city, suburban, town, and rural. Although rounded numbers are displayed, figures are based on unrounded data.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (PFI-NHES:2019). See Digest of Education Statistics 2020, table 207.20.

In 2019, the percentages of kindergartners through fifth-graders whose parents reported doing various education-related activities outside the home with their children were generally lower for those in rural areas than for those in other locales. Additionally, in general, parents of kindergartners through 12th-graders in rural areas in 2019 had lower expectations for their children’s educational attainment, compared with parents of students in cities and suburban areas.

• In 2019, about 32 percent of kindergarteners through fifth-graders in rural areas had parents who reported visiting a library with their children in the past month, compared with 40 percent of students in towns and 46 percent each of students in cities and suburban areas.
• In 2019, about 20 percent of kindergarteners through fifth-graders in rural areas had parents who reported visiting a zoo or aquarium with their children in the past month, compared with 32 percent of students in cities and 25 percent of students in suburban areas. The percentage for students in towns (23 percent) was not measurably different from the percentage for those in rural areas.
• In 2019, the percentage of kindergartners through 12th-graders in rural areas whose parents expected them to earn a graduate or professional degree (25 percent) was lower than the percentages in suburban areas and cities (42 percent each).
• The percentage of kindergartners through 12th-graders in rural areas in 2019 whose parents expected them to attend a vocational or technical school or some college (30 percent) was higher than the percentages in cities (19 percent) and suburban areas (17 percent).

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