ABSTRACT This manuscript systematically reviews 221 peer‐reviewed studies on rural public sector organizations published in 15 leading public administration journals between 1980 and 2022. It addresses three core questions: (1) How has rurality been conceptualized and measured? (2) What outcomes are attributed to rurality? and (3) Where is further research most needed? Key trends in publication patterns, geographic focus, citation networks, research design, and measurement strategies are analyzed. Findings reveal growing academic interest and increasingly sophisticated approaches to defining and studying rurality. However, the literature remains fragmented, often relying on inconsistent definitions and underrepresenting non‐US contexts. For both scholars and practitioners, the review highlights the need for clearer conceptual frameworks and more consistent measures to better understand how rural settings shape governance, service delivery, and administrative capacity. Improved conceptual clarity and global inclusion are critical for building a more cohesive, policy‐relevant research agenda for rural public administration.
Colt Jensen (2026) studied this question.