The author assumes that successful modernization of rural areas in Russia is determined by the presence of social groups directly involved in the process. Based on the analysis of data on the dynamics of the ratio of the urban and rural population in Russia and abroad, of rural employment and unemployment, of household surveys and materials on internal labor migration, the position is substantiated according to which urbanization in Russia has reached its natural limit. With that, villages are gradually becoming less of the places for applying agricultural labor, and more of the residential areas. It is emphasized that taking into account the "blurred" social structure of the modern village and the weakness of civil society institutions, the authorities should appeal to those groups of the population that are able to take part in the modernization of the village, spending part of the income on the improvement of their rural households. These categories of the population include farmers, migrant workers and city dwellers who purchase "distant" summer cottages.