Based on the results of systematic „Social Diagnosis” surveys, the Author presents the socio-professional structure of rural population in Poland and its spatial variations. The structure was subject to dramatic changes during the last 25 years and the change sequences were influenced by three simultaneous processes: de-agrarization, proletarization and gentrification. Structural variations are shown based on three cross-sectional analyses: first – across four historical regions (corresponding to the former partitions of Poland), then – in division into 16 voivodeships and finally across four ‘functional’ areas formed by the type of local economy.