Several general factors shape rural crime trends, including economic, demographic, and technological, although these are closely interconnected. Many remote rural communities have not experienced economic growth and have long suffered from poverty, unemployment, and underemployment. For the economically disadvantaged "backwaters" of rural America, there is little reason to believe that circumstances will improve in the near future; and the gap between the richest and the poorest counties is widening. If this trend continues, increases in rural vice, property crime, and the smuggling of black market goods can be expected. Changes in the population will also have an impact on rural crime. Because rural population growth is fueled by adult in-migration rather than births, the rural population may be aging more rapidly than that of urban America. Because the crime rate among senior citizens is low, rural crime rates should remain lower than urban rates, but crime against the elderly will probably increase, including health insurance fraud, home repair fraud, medical insurance scams, and elder abuse by care providers and family members. Technology will increasingly make rural residents vulnerable to electronic crimes, for which location is irrelevant, and improved transportation systems make rural areas more accessible to urban criminals who perceive that rural banks, businesses, and residents are vulnerable, less risky targets. Policymakers and rural criminal justice practitioners must plan for the future by keeping one eye on local developments and the other eye on larger and more distant forces.