Abstract
Implementation of objectives set out in the Strategy for sustainable development of rural territories of the Russian Federation until 2030 requires solving the problems of spatial differentiation among rural territories in different regions of Russia. The article analyzes the level of differentiation using a set of socio-economic indicators of rural areas. The coefficient of variation was used as an indicator of the degree of spatial differentiation. In the course of analysis, the authors identified significant disparities in territorial development for most of the considered indicators, and particularly acute differences were found in economic parameters, including the volume of investment at the expense of the municipal budget. It is revealed that the degree of differentiation between rural territories is influenced not so much by economic development success as by the level of urbanization in the region. The empirical basis of the analysis is research results conducted within the framework of the research project “Improving the policy of state regulation of accelerated clustering of industrial regions” (AP05133531), carried out under grant funding from the Ministry of education and science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.