This report is designed to present preliminary findings from the first comprehensive study of rural homelessness in the United States. The study was conducted during the first 6 months of 1990, and data were collected from interviews with 921 homeless adults in 21 randomly selected rural counties in Ohio. The sample counties represent 26% of the rural county population in the state. The study was designed to replicate prior research conducted in 1984, thus providing a comparison of the nature and extent of change in the problem of rural homelessness in Ohio over the span of six years. The primary instrument in this study was the Homeless Person Survey that was used in the 1984 study. Findings indicate significant growth in the number of rural homeless persons, as well as some basic changes in their demographic characteristics. The estimated number of homeless in rural Ohio based on the collected sample was 14,462 with the number possibly going as high as 19,616, or 3.4 per thousand. The conclusions drawn from the study include: (1) homelessness is an increasingly pressing rural social problem; (2) rural homeless persons are younger, more likely to be women or mothers with children, more educated and less disabled than their urban counterparts; and (3) patterns of homelessness in rural areas are diverse. Eleven data tables are included, several of which compare variables with the 1984 study. (ALL)