Since independence, changes have taken place in the national and social composition of the country's rural population. Socio-economic factors have led to a predominance of the number of indigenous people in the national composition of the villagers. The article analyzes the history of changes in the national and social structure of the rural population that inhabited the western region of Kazakhstan in the 50-80s of the XX century. As the main change in this period, the trend of an increase in the number and proportion of the indigenous population is indicated, which was the result of the influence of migration processes and natural growth. It is concluded that the social composition of the rural population is characterized by a decrease in the number of collective farmers and an increase in the number of workers, since the changes in the economic structure of rural settlements that took place at that time led to an increase in the share of workers and employees in the rural population.