Is there a single word for people who inhabit rural areas?
Even today, _____ have been living in the past
( ____ = habitants of rural areas)
Note- The inhabitants can be sophisticated or unsophisticated, literate or illiterate. They should just live in a non-urban place.
Similar and related to k1eran's answer, countryfolk would meet the criteria for being a closed compound, and carry the same effective meaning as country people in this context. Merriam-Webster and Collins attest it, though the latter as an open compound.
Edit: Some examples from around the web, showing the wide range of living situations covered and usage by country-folk, themselves:
I am directing all of my energies to the areas of the NC Foothills and the Northwest Blue Ridge Mountains. This area ranges in elevation from 800′ to over 5,000′ above sea level. The Foothills offer warmer temperatures, more precipitation, more opportunity for large farms, and have two federally designated American Vita-Cultural Areas for the growing wine industry. The Blue Ridge Mountain area offers longer range views, cooler temperatures, beautiful mountain peaks, and a thriving year-round vacation industry.
Please don’t hesitate using me or my website to find that very special piece of land in what we “Country Folk” call God’s Country! (from a real estate website)
We own that moonshine and we're sippin' on Bacardi
We showin' Vegas how we country folk party
What happens in the backwoods
Stays in the backwoods
(Crank it Up, Colt Ford)
Our 6ft 4in cicerone selected his prime favourite lamb chops, not cutlets, and steaks from young bullock carcasses which had not yet grown all their teeth. 'That's where we country-folk score in our small licensed slaughterer butchers.' She smiled contentedly. (How to Jug a Hare: The Telegraph Book of the Kitchen, 2015)
You could use ruralite. Per Oxford Dictionaries Online:
A person who lives in a rural area; a country-dweller.