No. It depends on what you mean by "rural". In north (and area where i used to live was considered "north") ppl made even more money.
And the educartional level and culture was mostly the same.
My father was a research scientist (physics) and my mother was university profesor (befor they biult Krsnoyarsk university there used to be a branch of Novosibirsk university) and i recall that atmosphere of university. That was a nice time. Authorities didn't bother scientific society with ideology while paying them quite a good money so there was a smell of anti soviet romantics, dissident home made literature and lots of other interesting stuff.
If you mean agricultural sector that's true there was a decay almost all the late soviet time.