The article provides a comparative assessment of the development of homogeneous and heterogeneous rural areas of the Voronezh region. Despite the fact that they accumulate effective agricultural production, solve the problem of food supply for the agglomerations, the low concentration of the population does not always allow the formation of full-fledged mechanisms for providing the villagers with benefits, which affects the level of their development. The current situation is constantly aggravated by a decrease in the population, leading to an increase in the unit cost of goods, as well as the formation of depressed administrative-territorial units. The analysis of the functioning of the rural areas of the region made it possible to establish the arithmetic mean and median indicators of their socio-economic development, highlight the competitive advantages, threats and determine the strategic priorities for growth.