The National Academies report on rural America notes that the 2020 Census marked the first time rural America as a whole lost population, with about two‑thirds of nonmetropolitan counties shrinking between 2010 and 2020.
This is not just a temporary dip in the charts. Many of these places are stuck in a cycle of chronic population loss that has lasted for several decades. Most Americans live in cities and do not realize that the backbone of the country is getting smaller every year.
More than half of all U.S. counties lost residents between 2010 and 2020. This is a big jump from the 35% we saw in the previous decade. Experts think this trend will continue until at least 2070. While some rural areas grew slightly by 0.29% recently, their total share of the population fell to just 13.6%.
When the population share drops, funding for schools and hospitals usually follows. People move away for better jobs, leaving behind towns that once were the centers of American industry.
Centralia
Centralia is a place where the ground literally opened up and forced people out. According to All That’s Interesting, a fire started in a coal mine under the town in the sixties, and it is still burning today. Most people do not realize that this fire could last for another hundred years.
The government had to step in and move almost everyone out because the gas was too dangerous. Today, only a few people remain in a town that once had thousands of residents. The streets are empty, and steam rises from cracks in the highway. It is a chilling example of how quickly a busy community can turn into a memory.
Cairo
Cairo sits right where two massive rivers meet, which should have made it a permanent trade hub. It was once a very wealthy town with beautiful brick buildings and a busy port. Today, the town is a shadow of its former self.
The population has crashed as businesses moved to other states or larger cities. Many of the historic buildings are now falling apart or covered in vines. It is hard to imagine the busy streets and loud markets that once filled this space.
The decline happened slowly over many years as the shipping industry changed and people left for better chances elsewhere. Cairo is now frequently referenced in discussions about rural decline, economic abandonment, and the collapse of river-based trade towns in the United States.
Gary
Gary was built around the steel industry, and it grew faster than almost any other city. It was a model for the American dream where a factory job could buy you a nice home. When steel production started to fall, the town began to lose its lifeblood. Thousands of people moved away as the mills cut back on staff and local shops closed.
You can see the town’s history in the massive, abandoned schools and theaters. The tax base has eroded so much that it is hard to maintain the basic roads and parks. It remains a place where the glory days feel very far away.
High vacancy rates, limited job growth, and ongoing infrastructure challenges continue to shape the city’s reputation, making it a clear example of how quickly an industrial powerhouse can fade when a single industry collapses.
Welch
Welch was once the heart of coal country in West Virginia. The downtown was so crowded decades ago that people called it a little New York. Now, the Appalachian Regional Commission Shows that the town struggles as coal mining employment has dropped by 63% in this subregion.
U.S. coal mining jobs fell from over 800,000 in 1923 to just 69,000 last year, according to the U.S. Congress’s Coal Industry Trends. With the jobs gone, the young people move away, and the tax base disappears. Poverty rates in these coal counties are much higher than in the rest of the country. This makes it very difficult for the town to fix its old buildings or keep hospitals open.
Lynch
Lynch was built as a company town by a coal giant, and it had everything a family could need. It even had its own power plant and a huge hospital for the miners. As coal production fell to less than half of its 2008 peak, towns like Lynch were hit the hardest.
The loss of jobs spilled over into every other local business in the area. Now, many of the stone buildings stand empty and quiet. The population is a tiny fraction of what it was during the boom years. It is a place that shows the deep cost of relying on a single industry for survival.
Steubenville
Steubenville sits along the river and was once a center for making steel and glass. It was a place where neighborhoods were tight, and every shop on the main street was full. As the mills closed down, the town started to shrink like many others in the Rust Belt.
U.S Census data shows that small towns in the Midwest are still losing people every year. The average decline was around 0.3 percent in the most recent counts. Even though the loss is slowing down, the damage to the local economy is already done. Many of the grand old homes now sit empty, waiting for a future that might not come.
Picher
Picher was a major source of lead and zinc for many years. The mining boom brought in money and workers from all over the country. However, Abandoned Online notes that the mining left behind massive piles of toxic waste and unstable ground. The government eventually declared the town too dangerous for human habitation.
Most of the residents were paid to move away, and the local school district was closed. It is now a town where nature is slowly taking back the land. The empty lots and old foundations tell the story of a place that was destroyed by the very thing that made it rich.
Today, Picher is often cited as one of the most contaminated towns in the United States, frequently appearing in discussions about environmental disasters, abandoned mining towns, and long-term public health risks.
Bodie
Bodie is a classic gold rush town that once had a population of 10,000 people. It had dozens of saloons and a busy main street where people spent their riches. When the gold ran out, the town was abandoned almost overnight.
It is now kept in a state of arrested decay by the state. This means the buildings are left exactly as they were when the last person left. You can still see old cans on the shelves and desks in the schoolhouse. It is a famous ghost town today, but it was once a very real and gritty place to live.
Bodie regularly appears on lists of the most famous abandoned towns in America and is a popular destination for tourists interested in Western history, ghost towns, and the rise and fall of mining communities.
Thurmond
Thurmond was a busy railroad town where the trains never seemed to stop. It was the center of a huge network that moved coal out of the mountains. Now, the town has a population that you can count on one hand. Most of the land is owned by the National Park Service, and the old buildings are silent.
The railroad still runs through the middle of town, but the trains do not stop here anymore. It serves as a reminder of how the world changed, leaving certain technologies behind. The silence in the valley is a far cry from the loud whistles of the past.
Today, Thurmond is often described as one of the most striking abandoned railroad towns in the United States. Visitors come to see the preserved depot, empty storefronts, and historic structures that once supported a booming coal economy.
Shenandoah
Shenandoah has a long history of coal mining that dates back over a century. The town was built by immigrants who came to work in the deep mines. As the industry collapsed, the town began to lose its economic foundation. The Weldon Cooper Center highlights that rural counties are losing their young adults to larger metro areas.
This leaves an older population that finds it hard to maintain the local schools. The tax base has shrunk so much that basic services are in danger. It is a town that is fighting to keep its identity as its numbers continue to fall.
Shenandoah is often cited as an example of a former coal town struggling with population decline, aging infrastructure, and limited job opportunities. Empty homes, reduced local businesses, and school consolidation reflect broader economic challenges facing many rural American communities tied to extractive industries.
Youngstown
Youngstown was once a powerhouse of American manufacturing and a symbol of growth. The collapse of the local steel mills in the late seventies changed everything for the city. It lost half of its population in just a few decades as people searched for work elsewhere.
You can see the impact of this loss in the many vacant lots and abandoned factories. Even though efforts are underway to introduce new technology, the recovery is slow. The city remains a primary example of how the loss of a major industry can change a place forever. It is a story that many other towns are now starting to live through.
Wallace
Wallace was the silver capital of the country for a very long time. It was a town that refused to die even after a massive fire and several mining strikes. As the demand for silver changed, the town had to find new ways to survive. Today, it relies heavily on tourism and people visiting for its historic charm.
The population is much lower than it was during the nineteenth-century boom years. It is a place where the old mines are now museum exhibits rather than sources of wealth. The town has survived, but it is much smaller and quieter than it once was.
Scranton
Scranton grew rapidly during the age of coal and steam. It was known as the Electric City because it had some of the first electric streetcars in the nation. When coal heating was replaced by gas and oil, the town lost its primary reason for being. The population share has been slipping as metro areas in the South and West grow faster.
Many of the old industrial buildings have been turned into apartments or offices. While the town is still a regional center, it is no longer the economic giant it once was. The transition to a new economy has been a long and difficult road for residents.
Braddock
Braddock was the home of a massive steel mill that helped build the American skyline. The town was a busy place where workers could walk to the mill and back home easily. As the steel industry moved overseas, the town was hit by a massive wave of poverty. NPR says the population fell from over 20,000 to just 1,700 people in 2024.
Many of the houses were torn down or left to rot as the tax base vanished. There are small signs of life coming back, but the scale of the loss is hard to overstate. It is a town that is barely surviving after decades of industrial decline.
Braddock is frequently referenced in discussions about deindustrialization, shrinking towns, and economic collapse in the Rust Belt.
Butte
Butte was once called the richest hill on earth because of its copper mines. The town was a melting pot of cultures and had a very urban feel for its location. A massive open-pit mine eventually started to swallow up the old neighborhoods. This pit is now a huge lake of toxic water that the town has to manage.
As the mining jobs disappeared, the town had to reinvent itself to keep people from moving away. It has managed to hold on better than some, but the scars of the mining era are everywhere. The town is much smaller and quieter than it was during its prime.
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