The lack of unified approaches to the concept and typology of rural territories, the lack of information about the current state of rural development do not allow objective decision-making at the regional and federal levels, and the development of measures for rural development is justified. In this regard, the article examines the Russian and foreign practice of identifying rural territories, analyzes possible methods for determining the types of rural territories, proposes a typology methodology for the subjects of the Russian Federation depending on the level and sustainability of the socio-economic development of rural territories. The results obtained in the research process made it possible to formulate proposals on the development directions of rural territories of various types.