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Get PAID up to $80,000 to move to struggling towns: Cash grants, student loan pay offs and free land are offered as incentives to revitalize rural communities across the U.S.
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- Towns in rural America are attempting to revitalize their communities by offering incentives to people to move to the countryside
- In 2010 19 per cent of people resided in rural America, a stark contrast to 54 per cent that lived in small communities in 1910
- A few surprising cities and even states also say they will help you payoff homes and financial obligations if you agree to live in their communities
Towns in rural America are attempting to revitalize their increasingly anemic communities by incentivizing people to move out to the countryside.
Cash grants, student loan pay offs and free land giveaways are just some of the enticements smaller communities are offering to a younger generation of Americans looking to leave the big city, where in some places individuals can utilize up to $80,000 worth of incentives to relocate.
According to USA Today, rural America encompasses 75 per cent of the country, but only 16 per cent of its population, the lowest in the nation's history.
Numbers show that 54 per cent of the population in 1910 lived in rural communities, but dropped to just 19 per cent in 2010, according to a report by real estate website Zillow.
USA Today explains the phenomenon is a complicated mix of many factors, but essentially boils down to rural Americans facing fewer opportunities following technological advancement and the continued consolidation of the agricultural industry.
Academics have also argued that an increasingly globalized world where free trade and competition from emerging foreign markets have created a dearth of options for Americans living in the more bucolic regions of America.
'Meanwhile, the growth of steel, automobile and other industries, along with a college education, pulled young people into urban areas where they got married and had children. Most did not return to their rural roots,' William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, explained to USA Today.
But its not just communities in the idyllic plains of the American country side that are offering these programs.
A few surprising cities and even states also say they will help you payoff homes and financial obligations if you agree to live in their communities.
Here are some of the places around the United States Country Living Magazine says you may want to consider for your next move:
Harmony, Minnesota
Cash grants, student loan pay offs and free land giveaways are just some of the enticements smaller communities are offering
The Harmony Economic Development Authority incentivize people to build homes in this town with a cash rebate program worth between $5,000 to $12,000, with no restrictions on age or income level.
According to the 2010 census, the population of Harmony stood at 1,020 and features the largest Amish community in the state. The town, which bills itself as the 'Biggest Little Town in Southern Minnesota,' currently has a media age of just over 50 years of age.
The town has looked to its neighbors in Stewartville, a town of 5,900, which has seen significant growth since it implemented its own plans in 2013, offering $5,000 to build a house or $7,500 to put up a commercial, industrial or multifamily residential building, according to The Start Tribune.
'It's worked — very much so,' city administrator William Schimmel said. 'I know that some think, 'Oh, those folks were going to build anyway.' But we've seen new investment.
Marne, Iowa
The programs are designed to get a younger generation of Americans looking to leave the big city
Officials in this Iowa town, located just 45 minutes away from Omaha, will give you free land to build a house if it's at least 1,200 square feet. The town, according to the 2010 census, has around 120 residents with a median age of 44-years-old.
Mayor of the town Randy Baxter said: 'This is a very picturesque town with rolling hills. For such a small population we have a lot going on.
'We also have a good schooling system, high speed internet and we are well connected to other towns.
'We have a young family of five who took advantage of the scheme living here now.
'And that's what it is all about - getting people to move here and boasting the population.'
To qualify for the scheme people need to be a resident of the US and house construction must be completed within 18 months.
Tribune, Kansas
A few surprising cities and even states also say they will help you payoff homes
Tribune, Kansas is looking to draw a younger generation of Americans to one of its least populated counties in the state, offering to pay off up to $15,000 worth of student loans over five years with the Rural Opportunity Zone program.
'We knew we needed young people in our community, and so we were looking for opportunities to bring them back,' said community development director Christy Hopkins.
'Since beginning the ROZ program, Greeley's population has increased by 55 people—25 of them being direct program participants benefiting from the student loan incentives.'
Curtis, Nebraska
If you build a single-family house in Curtis, Nebraska within a certain timeframe, you can get the lot of land it's built on for free
Curtis, Nebraska offers newcomers lots of free land to build a single-family house within a certain timeframe, which can be placed in the town's Roll'n Hills addition or near the Arrowhead Meadows Golf Course.
Baltimore, Maryland
A surprising addition to this list, Baltimore has two programs that will help people looking to move to the city with buying a home
A surprising addition to this list, Baltimore has two programs that will help people looking to move to the city with buying a home. If you qualify, the Buying into Baltimore program offers residents a $5,000 forgivable five-year loan.
The Vacants to Value Booster scheme offers $10,000 for a down payment and closing costs if you purchase property considered to be distressed or formerly distressed.
New Haven, Connecticut
New homeowners can count up to $80,000 worth of perks if they decide to build a home in New Haven, Conneticut
New Haven, Connecticut is by no means a small town, but city offers home-owner incentives that qualify it for the Country Living list.
New homeowners can count up to $80,000 worth of perks including a $10,000 forgivable five-year loan for first-time buyers. It also offers $30,000 of renovation assistance, along with paying up to $40,000 towards college tuition.
Alaska
The whole state of Alaska offers a myriad of different programs that aims to draw people towards the biggest state in the union
The whole state of Alaska offers a myriad of different programs that aims to draw people towards the biggest state in the union.
State-wide interest rate reduction programs for energy-efficient homes along with incentives for veterans and live-in caretakers of physically or mentally-disabled residents are also available.
Colorado
The Rocky Mountain state offers a program that will help you finance your first home if you suffer from a permanent disability
A down payment assistance grant is also available for everyone that offers up to 4% of a first mortgage, with no repayment necessary
The Rocky Mountain state offers a program that will help you finance your first home if you suffer from a permanent disability. A down payment assistance grant is also available for everyone that offers up to 4% of a first mortgage, with no repayment necessary.
Wyoming
Wyoming offers residents who look to own a refurbished home an incentive through the Rehabilitation & Acquisition Program
Wyoming offers residents who look to own a refurbished home an incentive through the Rehabilitation & Acquisition Program, which brings foreclosures and abandoned houses back on the market for low income families after being restored.
The state also has another program that will assist individuals looking to repair old homes that need more than $15,000 worth of repairs.
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