To find out what rural individuals felt were their biggest challenges, SaveYour.Town and SmallBizSurvival.com surveyed 315 rural people from the US, Canada and Australia between November 2022 and January 2023. The results comprise this 5th edition of the Survey of Rural Challenges. Download the PDF Report Survey of Rural Challenges 2023 by debworks Top conclusions […] To find out what rural people felt were their biggest difficulties, SaveYour.Town and SmallBizSurvival.com surveyed 315 rural individuals from the US, Canada and Australia in between November 2022 and January 2023. The outcomes comprise this fifth edition of the Survey of Rural Challenges. Download the PDF Report Survey of Rural Challenges 2023 by debworks Top conclusions from the survey Rural people were twice as most likely to state they were optimistic about their communities’ future as negative. Continuing lack of housing, non-active downtowns and population losses ranked the greatest as rural neighborhood difficulties. The ongoing lack of employees, support services and functional buildings, stiff competitors from online services, and marketing ranked the highest as challenges to rural small businesses. Other preconception-changing results Defying stereotyped media profiles of poverty, crime and drug abuse as the primary rural difficulties, rural people constantly ranked these near the bottom as community obstacles. Rural organizations innovate. Far from stuck in their ways and out of date, the most typical service assets listed in 2023 were innovative ideas and updated marketing strategies. rural economic development typically focuses around tasks, it was one of the least-mentioned difficulties in this survey. Rural people mentioned good jobs or offered tasks as frequently as mentioning a lack of tasks or low paying jobs. For all the reports of a lack of small company loaning, rural individuals stated usable buildings are more difficult to find than loans, a continuing trend from previous studies. Rural small company owners revealed little or no interest in service strategy support and pitch competitions, yet these kinds of help continue to be typically used to rural organizations. Rural company people were more likely to mention that they needed aid with marketing, starting a business, or getting financial advancement incentives on par with those used to hire out-of-town firms. Download the PDF Report Rural neighborhood optimism A new question in 2023 asked respondents “Do you think your neighborhood will be better off in 10 years?” Responses of 1 or 2 were thought about unfavorable, and answers of 4 or 5 were considered positive. More than twice as many people offered a positive reaction (119) than were negative (50 ) about their communities’ future. Almost as lots of were positive (119) as were neutral (136 ). Almost all of the survey individuals responded to this concern, 305 out of 315. Rural Community Challenges & & Assets Lack of real estate, non-active downtowns and population losses continue to rank the greatest as rural community difficulties. Lack of child care also ranks in the leading 5. The top five rural community obstacles in 2023 were: Shortage of excellent housing Downtown is dead Not sufficient volunteers Losing youths Lack of child care More about rural neighborhood obstacles Through open-ended actions, participants could go into more detailed answers about their challenges. Out of 177 comments, the most common subjects pointed out broke down into these rough categories. Attitudes: Poor leadership, sticking to out-of-date methods and infighting were discussed by 39% of actions. Infrastructure: Empty buildings, a lack of real estate or usable business structures, broadband, water, wastewater, transport included in 26% of responses. Economic opportunity: Lack of financing, lack of services and assistance for small businesses, and a requirement for a specific company in the community were pointed out in 26% of answers. Rural Community Assets On the open-ended questions, people mentioned their neighborhood’s possessions in 233 responses. Natural deposits, land, outside entertainment, place and tourism were the most typical properties, mentioned in 64% of responses. Devoted individuals, volunteers, an engaged community, workforce and reliable local leaders were mentioned in 48% of the answers. Events, arts, education and culture turned up in 32% of the comments. Local businesses, a thriving downtown, the range of local services, organization advancement and agriculture featured in 28% of reactions. Infrastructure, buildings, broadband, real estate and innovation were considered an asset in 9% of responses. Healthcare was noted as an asset in 7% of responses. Small-town Business Challenges & & Assets The lack of workers and problems with marketing continue to challenge rural small companies. Lack of assistance from government or agencies ranked second. Lack of usable structures continues to climb in value, breaking into the leading five. The leading five obstacles ranked by rural small companies were: Lack of excellent workers Lack of assistance from firms, government or organizations Need a usable building Online competition Marketing isn’t working More about rural organization obstacles Across the open-ended concerns, people mentioned rural organization obstacles in 43 reactions. The most common topics pointed out broke down into the following rough classifications. Small company support: 30% mentioned needing company help including a lack of competent company, assistance programs, training and technical help. Client service obstacles were pointed out by 26%. Competition: Big box stores and other competitors were mentioned in 17% responses. Over 20 other problems were mentioned in the 43 actions, suggesting a diversity of difficulties facing rural small companies. Small-town Business Assets Across the open-ended questions, individuals shared more about their organization’s possessions in 112 actions. More than two times as a lot of these actions noted possessions as noted business difficulties. Individuals were the top small business asset. Caring individuals, commitment, relationships and engagement showed up in 22% of answers. The absence of workforce was the most frequently picked difficulty, nine people specifically discussed their labor force as a possession. Trying originalities and brand-new marketing was common. Almost 20% of answers included new ideas business had actually attempted successfully. Up-to-date marketing strategies were pointed out as possessions in 12% of the responses. Client service was mentioned positively in 13% of answers. More people mentioned it as a property (16) than listed it as an obstacle (11 ). The neighborhood was called a property to their small company in 9% of answers. The makeup of rural communities An open-ended concern invited participants to tell more about the makeup of their communities. Race, ethnicity and cultural backgrounds including White, Black, Hispanic or Latino, Native American or Indigenous, Francophone and basic variety were pointed out in 95% of responses. Age was consisted of in 69% of responses. Two-thirds of those answers mentioned elderly or aging populations particularly. Earnings or education levels were pointed out in 35% of responses. All other groups were discussed in couple of answers. People pointed out openness to various groups, difficulties or absence of acceptance, and lack of opportunities for differing people. Less than 6% raised politics. Charts and more information in the report Download the PDF report Share this infographic Click here for the complete size infographic About the study method The study was open from November 11, 2022 to January 31, 2023. A total of 315 actions were gathered online from subscribers and visitors to SaveYour.Town and SmallBizSurvival.com, from media coverage and working together groups that advertised the study. Participants recognized themselves as rural by completing the study, and 206 recognized themselves as entrepreneur by responding to the business concern. Individuals included 295 from the USA, eleven from Canada and 6 from Australia. Based on SaveYour.Town customer information, many participants likely serve as community leaders and authorities, operate in neighborhood and economic advancement, own their own services, operate in a community-oriented business or volunteer informally in their community. Cited by these publications Rural challenges show repeated issues and a twinkle of optimism by locals, a new study suggests, IRJCI– Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, University of Kentucky Rural Communities Are Upbeat About the Future Despite Persisting Issues, Daily Yonder Rural tourist difficulties and chances– survey results, Tourism Currents Inside Our Industry– Survey of Rural Challenges 2023 Results, Agracel, Inc. Previous surveys and more Find the previous surveys back through 2015, and more details at https://smallbizsurvival.com/survey-of-rural-challenges.html Keywords and classification: Survey of Rural Challenges Rural studies and polls What rural individuals desire and require What a small town needs Rural people needs and wants Rural obstacles Small town problems Urban-rural divide Rural policy Diversity in rural neighborhoods Diverse villages Rural support programs For more information contact Becky McCray becky@smallbizsurvival.com Deb Brown deb@saveyour.town!.?.!