Some research suggests that those who live in rural areas collectively share a sense of identification based on the physical location, corresponding with a strong, tightly knit, place-based community. Other research suggests that individuals in rural areas may only think of themselves in terms of a place-based identity when faced with members of the out-group (e.g., city dwellers or other people from outside the area). In this study, we examine place-based identity among individuals living in a rural Ohio community recently impacted by fracking. Using secondary data from 11 semi-structured interviews with 16 participants, our analysis yields some support for the dynamic in which a rural place-based identity is socially and personally relevant in the presence of the out-group. However, the bulk of our findings identify structural factors that have undermined the identity’s strength and utility among those who hold it: weakening social institutions, changing community demographics, and economic divisions exacerbated by fracking have rendered the rural place-based identity less relevant for community residents. This study is important because it directs attention to often-overlooked processes associated with identity erosion, termination, and exit, shedding light on the role that structural changes, including social and economic ones, play in this process.