When Being Small Is a Big Advantage

If you want to gain a competitive edge in the race to hire talent, you may want to consider doing what many American workers have already done: Move out of the big city.

What many thought was just a blip during the COVID-19 pandemic — people fleeing big cities for the open space of suburbs, exurbs and rural small towns — has turned into a long-term trend.

Recent data from the federal government back this up. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, the overall rate of non-metro-area population growth during 2020-2021 (0.25%) exceeded the national rate (0.12%) for the first time since the mid-1990s. That trend continued in 2022 as the counties in outlying areas, including suburbs, exurbs and rural counties, saw their populations grow the fastest. Exurban counties grew by 1.9% while suburban counties grew by 1.5%.

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