This report highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing rural policies and programs. The economic expansion of the 1990s greatly benefited rural economies. Rural areas attracted both urban residents and immigrants. Hispanics accounted for over 25 percent of nonmetropolitan population growth in the 1990s. The rural West grew by 20 percent, twice the national average, boosted by both high immigration and high birth rates. Nonmetro and metro unemployment rates moved together, declining during most of the 1990s and increasing as the recession began in 2001. The share of nonmetro workers whose income was below the poverty level fell from 32 percent in 1996 to 25 percent in 2001. Still, half of nonmetro workers without high school diplomas worked in low-wage jobs. Although nonmetro poverty rates were the lowest on record, child poverty remained high. Almost 19 percent of rural children lived in poverty, and a similar proportion resided in food-insecure households. Maps and figures illustrate nonmetro population change, 1990-2000; changes in unemployment and poverty rates; and the extent of poverty in nonmetro counties. A data table presents selected social and economic indicators. (SV)