Mid fall is conference season in academia, and that means I head out this week for a series of conferences as part of my CSU faculty role: first, attending Economic Development Council of Colorado ’s annual Drive Lead Succeed event in Cripple Creek, Colorado, then on to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s InvestRuralUSA conference in Asheville, North Carolina. Both will give me the opportunity to talk about Community resiliency in a rural context, learn from peers and bring back strategies to help rural communities with whom we partner.

Luckily, persistent concerns about rural “left behind” areas we have mulled over in such government and academic conferences is starting to pivot into more positive conversations about the innovation and growth showing up across rural America more recently. As I shared in my earlier piece on the Future of the Rural Workforce , rural America will benefit as employers allow workers to be remote, but also, if rural economic leaders attract new employers to their area through training programs that assure talented workers and focus on quality of life for owners and workers. Evidence is emerging that such strategies are effective and driving the revitalization of some rural areas.

Rural Youth Drive Talent Migration

As evidence to a rural migration turnaround, the Guild just shared its Workforce Signal series, led by Guy Berger their Workforce Economist-in-Residence at Guild, which frames an optimistic rural America narrative: Some rural states are actually winning the war for young, college-educated talent, not losing it.

As the map illustrates and the Guild report highlights to great examples, Vermont and Montana , both highly rural and currently ranking among the states who are attracting young college graduates to offset their otherwise older-than-average population base. In contrast, Arkansas and South Dakota currently have younger populations but are losing the battle to attract young talent. Policy leaders and academics continue to explore what drives these different outcomes and quality of life as well as the mix of jobs, work flexibility and training are key factors.

In an email exchange on this report, Guy shared these insights from the study, “The rural states we looked into differ primarily in what their workforce is preparing for. Rural states with low migration, like Arkansas, emphasize logistics and supply chain, skills that mirror the existing, dominant local industries of freight and agriculture. On the other hand, high-migration states like Vermont skew towards desk jobs and more technical work, which reflects our suspicion that remote workers prefer moving somewhere they can keep an urban-economy job. Montana is an outlier because its skills base isn’t concentrated in one family at all, which tells us you don’t need a single specialization to be attractive to young talent.”

But these differences in training and types of workforces may also be a function of longer-term investments and economic recruitment strategies: low-migration states are home to many logistics and supply chain jobs, while high-migration states lean toward office and technical skills, and that divide may only grow given evidence of where remote workers are choosing to relocate.

Quality of Life and Third Places Matter

Quality of life and connectedness is also likely a driver of the positive migration and workforce dynamics in some rural areas. A set of rural researchers have begun to focus on “Third places”, frequently described as restaurants, bars, and cafes, but they also include neighborhood playgrounds, schools, sidewalks, parks and plazas, churches, gyms and recreation centers… essentially wherever people can drop in casually, linger without pressure, and strike up conversations with both friends and strangers. In a 2025 CHOICES article , Van Leuven explored the role of Third places in rural America and highlighted how essential they are in the “social infrastructure” that underpins rural community life, rather than being backdrops for social life.

Van Leuven suggests the realities of our global and virtually connected economy make rural third places more fragile than those in cities. Rural communities don’t need to choose between digital tools and physical gathering places as the most vibrant rural areas will invest in both. both play an important role and can coexist in daily life and .

In short, migration is largely out of any state or community’s control, but nurturing quality of life through investments in third places important to the fabric of daily life appears to be an effective recruitment strategy. And, together with putting timely workforce training and job creation approaches on the ground, rural areas could see a vibrant renaissance driven by young, well-educated newcomers.