A study from the University of Idaho's McClure Center for Public Policy Research shows Idaho has become steadily more urban since the Great Recession, a trend that has some worried about the future of the state's rural communities. "You would expect urban Idaho to lead in growth, but it's quite dramatic," center director Priscilla Salant, one of the study's authors, told the Post Register newspaper in Idaho Falls; you can read a full report here from the Post Register and the AP.

The study found that since the recession ended in 2009, urban Idaho’s population has increased by 6 percent, while the state’s rural population has remained flat. Currently, a third of Idaho’s population lives in rural areas, compared to the national average of 15 percent, but the study found that if the current trend continues, Idaho could look more like the rest of the nation.