The purpose of this National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research project is to understand how rural businesses and households in Missouri were impacted by high inflation and Federal Reserve interest rate increases following the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the strategies theyemployed to navigate these economic challenges. The research will assess economic and social impacts, explore coping strategies, and develop policy recommendations to enhance rural resilience and quality of life of rural households. Using a mixed methods approach, the researcher will collect and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data from primary and secondary sources, including surveys and interviews. The primary data sources will be rural households and businesses from rural counties in Missouri, while the secondary data sources will come from publicly available such as America Community Surveys, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Census Bureau, among other sources. The Study will compare rural household and business performance from 2020 to 2024. Key areas of focus will include changes in income and expenditure, employment, social and economic challenges, business performance, rural business and households’ coping strategies, household and community well-being. The project will contribute to understanding rural Missouri’s adaptability and inform policies to support rural development in the face of economic challenges.