To harmonize the population threshold for rural communities under programs carried out by the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Jim Costa (Democratic-CA)February 20, 2026

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Signed into Law

Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Lets more communities qualify for federal rural development programs by raising population limits to 25,000

This bill would make the definition of "rural" the same across federal programs by raising population limits to 25,000 people. This would let more communities get programs like broadband expansion, water systems, and housing help. Right now, different programs use different population limits from 2,500 to 20,000 people. The change would also not count military base and prison populations when deciding if an area counts as rural.

What Would Change

Currently, federal programs define "rural" using different population thresholds ranging from 2,500 to 20,000 people, and some count military base and prison populations while others don't. After this bill, most programs would use a single standard of 25,000 people and would exclude military and prison populations from the count. The Agriculture Secretary would also review these limits annually instead of keeping them fixed.

Key Provisions

Raises the population limit for rural broadband and telemedicine programs from 20,000 to 25,000 people
Increases the threshold for rural housing assistance from various limits (2,500 to 20,000) to 25,000 people
Lets communities exclude prison and military base populations when calculating their size for rural programs
Removes the 1,500-person cap on excluding military personnel from rural area calculations
Requires the Agriculture Secretary to review and potentially adjust rural population limits every year
Clarifies that U.S. territories can participate in rural development programs

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HR 7609 · 119th Congress · February 20, 2026 · AI Summary by claude-sonnet-4-20250514 · 10/10

To harmonize the population threshold for rural communities under programs carried out by the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.

What Would Change

Key Provisions

Lobbying Activity