The challenges and opportunities faced by rural principals often fundamentally differ from those of urban and suburban principals due to geographic and social isolation, low enrollment, and small staff. Recent research, such as the special issue of Peabody Journal of Education (2014) on rural school leadership have explored the unique challenges and opportunities of the rural principalship and have found that holding dual roles (e.g., principal/teacher or principal/superintendent) and divergent responsibilities (e.g., substitute teaching and teacher evaluation) limit their ability to focus on instructional leadership. This study explored the differences between rural and non-rural principals in North Dakota. Using a mixed-methods approach to data collection and analysis, findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the rural principalship through the development of a survey that identifies and measures differences between rural and non-rural principals.