What’s the real cost of health care for rural residents? Richard Oswald explains how labor and delivery equal debt to most young families. And the price only goes up.

NBC's Tom Brokaw wrote recently that the recession was a good reason for states to consolidate local governments, schools and colleges into larger jurisdictions. It's not.

Fears that Democrats in Washington, D.C., will pass new laws restricting firearms have lifted gun sales — and the Yonder 40, the stock index for rural America.

Two scholars find that outmigration, long-term poverty and other socio-economic features may account for the different employment trends in farming and rural manufacturing communities.