From research and outreach, Fed policymakers see and hear how rural economies depend on a mix of industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, and retail industries.
“There are a number of misconceptions about rural communities. One is the idea of agriculture being the economic driver,” said Susan M. Collins, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The Boston Fed’s region covers Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. “While that is true for some communities, certainly in the aggregate that’s not the general story. In fact, the industrial mix and the share of employment is similar in rural areas nationally to urban areas.”
“There are a number of misconceptions about rural communities. One is the idea of agriculture being the economic driver. While that is true for some communities, certainly in the aggregate that’s not the general story. In fact, the industrial mix and the share of employment is similar in rural areas nationally to urban areas.”
– Susan M. Collins, president and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
In 2025, Collins visited The Jackson Laboratory, a biomedical research organization based in Bar Harbor, Maine, to hear how employees there are using new technologies to expand health care access in rural communities.
The lab’s Maine Cancer Genomics Initiative, for example, helps connect global experts in cancer virtually to healthcare community networks in rural areas across the state. Those experts can help doctors who otherwise may not have access to that kind of expertise to analyze the genomics results of a biopsy and decide on the best treatments. This example illustrates how rural areas increasingly rely on high-skill, knowledge-based industries beyond traditional sectors.
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