The poverty gap between urban and rural populations has widened since 2010, Successful Farming reported. The gap between metro areas and rural communities is now 3.5 percentage points, up from 3 percentage points, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported. Historically, the gap has been attributed to rural areas having an older, lower paid, and less educated rural population. A new USDA report says the gap between rural and urban areas widened, to 3.5 percentage points, during the economic recovery that began a decade ago. The annual “Rural America at a Glance” report said rural employment still hasn’t recovered fully from the last recession, but rapid growth in the cities has boosted employment in those areas.