Accessible Version

How do Rural and Urban Retail Banking Customers Differ? Accessible Data

Figure 1. Demographic Trends
Figure 1a. Plots the fraction of survey respondents living in Large MSAs, Small MSAs, and Rural areas (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Population Share

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 47.83 46.76 45.73 56.54 56.85
Light Blue Line Small MSA 31.81 33.71 34.11 30.58 30.34
Red Line Rural 20.36 19.53 20.16 12.88 12.8
Figure 1b. Plots the average age of survey respondents (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Average Age

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 49.3 49.8 49.8 50.9 51.6
Light Blue Line Small MSA 49.1 49.7 50.2 51.1 51
Red Line Rural 50.9 51.2 52.7 52.7 53.5

Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), Survey of Consumer Finances.

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Figure 2. Adoption of Banking Services Over Time
Figure 2a. Plots the fraction of survey respondents without a checking or savings account (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Percent without Bank Account

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 8.48 6.91 7.21 6.24 5.67
Light Blue Line Small MSA 8.28 6.79 6.99 7 7.6
Red Line Rural 9.73 12.06 9.01 8.85 9.18
Figure 2b. Plots the fraction of survey respondents that use autopay (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Percent Using Autopay

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 47.22 46.88 49.02 54.32 66.25
Light Blue Line Small MSA 49.68 45.83 49.79 51.42 64.11
Red Line Rural 44.41 41.82 45.27 53.81 63.32
Figure 2c. Plots the fraction of survey respondents that use direct deposit (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Percent Using Direct Deposit

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 71.3 75.54 76.96 82.01 84.78
Light Blue Line Small MSA 74.28 77.21 77.98 83.14 83.68
Red Line Rural 66.06 69.35 72.82 83.75 83.04

Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), Survey of Consumer Finances.

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Figure 3. Reasons for Choosing Financial Institution
Figure 3a. Plots the fraction of survey respondents that chose their financial institution primarily because of location (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Percent Using Online Banking

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 43.43 44.43 44.15 40.49 43.24
Light Blue Line Small MSA 38.02 39.36 40.62 37.49 34.47
Red Line Rural 37.89 36.48 37.52 43.83 41.93
Figure 3b. Plots the fraction of survey respondents that chose their financial institution primarily because of the number of services offered (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Percent Using Internet Savings Information

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 13.76 14.88 14.64 17.6 13.66
Light Blue Line Small MSA 14.17 13.29 15.44 15.27 14.19
Red Line Rural 12.6 15.74 15.08 14.16 16.73
Figure 3c. Plots the fraction of survey respondents that chose their financial institution primarily because of low fees (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Percent Using Internet Borrowing Information

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 15.11 11.13 13.23 13.92 12.62
Light Blue Line Small MSA 14.29 14.68 12.91 15.23 13.69
Red Line Rural 13.78 10.76 11.96 9.84 10.46

Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), Survey of Consumer Finances.

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Figure 4. Increasing Use of the Internet for Banking
Figure 4a. Plots the fraction of survey respondents that have adopted online banking (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Percent with Choice Based on Bank Location

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 35.58 54.32 64.01 67.78 75.47
Light Blue Line Small MSA 31.38 50.56 59.32 61.35 68.48
Red Line Rural 26.06 35.8 44.43 50.24 56.48
Figure 4b. Plots the fraction of survey respondents that reported using the internet to gather savings information (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Percent with Choice Based on Number of Services

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 22.99 32.06 37.79 37.97 44.38
Light Blue Line Small MSA 17.99 27.74 31.98 33.55 39.14
Red Line Rural 13.76 20.16 23.73 27.39 32.4
Figure 4c. Plots the fraction of survey respondents that reported using the internet to gather borrowing information (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Percent with Choice Based on Low Fees

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 34.32 42.11 46.91 50.19 55.68
Light Blue Line Small MSA 28.94 38.48 41 45.98 51.31
Red Line Rural 21.51 29.3 31.28 35.74 42.62

Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), Survey of Consumer Finances.

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Figure 5. Evolving Search Intensity
Figure 5a. Plots the fraction of survey respondents that have reported high or very high search intensity for savings products (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Percent High or Very High Search Intensity for Savings

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 34.62 32.54 38.65 38.21 52.5
Light Blue Line Small MSA 31.42 33.36 34 38.06 50.91
Red Line Rural 28.74 29.32 33.58 34.9 44.93
Figure 5b. Plots the fraction of survey respondents that have reported high or very high search intensity for borrowing products (Y-axis) over five survey waves from 2004-2016 (X-axis). There are three lines: Large MSA respondents (blue), Small MSA respondents (light blue), and Rural respondents (red).

Percent High or Very High Search Intensity for Borrowing

  Survey Year 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Blue Line Large MSA 40.64 38.66 42.01 44.32 61.82
Light Blue Line Small MSA 38.55 37.76 40.85 44.36 58.66
Red Line Rural 36.06 32.58 35.66 39.22 54.6

Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), Survey of Consumer Finances.

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Last Update: June 12, 2020