Explaining Variation in Income Among Rural Farm Counties in the Great Plains

Abstract

Considerable variation in per capita incomes among rural farm counties in the Great Plains during the late 1990s argue for the need to investigate the determinants of that variation to provide some guidance for economic development policy. Drawing from rural development literature, measures of the rural resource base were collected for 137 counties. Pooled regression was used to analyze the relationship between those measures and per capita personal income. Results emphasize the importance of private non-farm employment as a source of higher incomes. (018)