Measures of powerlessness, life satisfaction, and community solidarity were used to assess the extent to which people in four rural counties in northwest Wisconsin felt integrated into their communities and society. Relationships between formal and informal social participation measures and these three subjective indicators were central to this analysis of individual well-being. In addition, independent variables of age, sex, marital status, family income, education, and occupation of head of household were used. Data analysis showed both formal (newspaper readership, contact with large cities, church attendance, activity in voluntary organizations) and informal (social visits and telephoning, attending parties, recreation activities social participation tended to increase feelings of community solidarity. However, data showed much less importance in reducing feelings of powerlessness. Consistently low zero order and partial relationships between social participation measures and life satisfaction suggested it may be difficult to explain overall satisfaction with life with social participation antecedents. Intercorrelations indicated a moderate degree of relationship between life satisfaction and community solidarity, while powerlessness had a modest relationship to community solidarity and an even smaller one to overall life satisfaction. Effects of background variables were also noted. (RS)