In many states, these trends have allowed the large metropolitan areas to soar economically so far past small-town and rural regions that analysts often describe local conditions as a tale of two states.
In a recent study, for instance, the "Urban Lab" at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin noted that what it called "the Texas Triangle -- the great region bounded by San Antonio/Austin in the southwest, Houston in the southeast, and Dallas/Fort Worth in the north" accounted for the vast majority of the state's economic output, attracted 98% of its venture capital and generated much higher wages than the state's rural areas.
"It is a tale of two Texases," the group wrote, "one, an urban powerhouse with a rising knowledge economy that craves more educated talent; and the other, smaller towns and open ranges whose legacy agriculture, manufacturing, and oil extraction businesses are contracting."