Between 1960 and 1970 economic opportunity and progress for women in American non-metropolitan areas was mixed. While women in metropolitan areas were more likely to be labor force members than were non-metropolitan women, the difference in metropolitan and non-metropolitan labor force participation rates narrowed during the period. For women between the ages of 35 and 44 there was almost no residential difference by 1970. Existing differences in labor force activity were not associated with commuting. In non-metropolitan counties women became an important labor resource, accounting for 89% of the job growth between 1960 and 1970, as compared to just 58% of the metropolitan job growth. Although non-metropolitan women were not forced into traditional rural pursuits, they were more likely to hold low-wage clerical, operative, and service jobs. These lower status jobs accounted for most of the employment gains for non-metropolitan women in the 1970's. The decentralization of employment to non-metropolitan areas has created jobs for both black and white women where few existed before, yet the lower status of most non-metropolitan employment implies lesser social, economic, and personal rewards for non-metropolitan women workers. (SB)