** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE ECONOMIES OF RURAL AMERICA CONTINUE TO LAG THOSE IN METROPOLITAN AREAS WITH MANY EXPERIENCING SIGNIFICANT HARDSHIP. IDENTIFYING THE ATTRIBUTES OF RURAL ECONOMIES THAT EXPLAIN WHY THEY LAG THEIR URBAN COUNTERPARTS, AND THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT CAUSE SOME RURAL AREAS TO FLOURISH WHILE OTHERS FLOUNDER ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT AREAS OF RESEARCH.YET, RURAL AMERICA IS NOT MONOLITHIC AND MODERN ECONOMIES ARE INCREASINGLY LESS CONSTRAINED BY GEOGRAPHY. THE GOODS AND SERVICES CONSUMERS PURCHASE ARE THE END-PRODUCTS OF COMPLEX SUPPLY-CHAINS WITH NUMEROUS HIGHLY SPECIALIZED PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION STEPS. THE ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF A RURAL AREA IS INTIMATELY CONNECTED TO ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN THE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM SECTORS LINKED TO BUSINESSES LOCATED THERE. ALTHOUGH SOME MAY BE LOCATED IN RURAL PLACES, MANY WILL BE IN URBAN AREAS. THUS, RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY THAT IGNORES URBAN AREAS IS INCOMPLETE.THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO USE FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE MICRODATA THROUGH AN APPROVED FSRDC PROGRAM TO CONSTRUCT A NEW PLACE TYPOLOGY BASED ON SUPPLY-CHAIN CONNECTEDNESS. THIS APPROACH WILL OVERCOME RECOGNIZED SHORTCOMINGS IN EXISTING TYPOLOGIES THAT DEFINE RURAL AS THE RESIDUAL, NON-URBAN CATEGORY, OR APPLY GEOGRAPHIC AGGREGATIONS THAT COMBINE DEFINE RURAL AREAS WITHIN URBAN COUNTIES AS URBAN. WE WILL MEASURE THE ECONOMIC ISOLATION OF RURAL AREAS, EVALUATE HOW ISOLATION AFFECTS ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, AND HOW THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN URBAN CORES IS RELATED TO ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN THEIR HINTERLANDS. WE WILL ALSO EXAMINE SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY IN THESE RELATIONSHIPS BASED ON THE DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES OF BOTH RURAL UNITS AND URBAN CORES.