Research on political representation has extensively explored the descriptive and substantive representation of social groups based on gender, income, class, ethnicity, education, or age. However, despite mounting evidence of increasing differences in political attitudes and behavior between cities and the countryside in several advanced democracies, a frequently overlooked aspect in this field is place-based representation along the rural-urban divide, that is, the extent to which rural and urban dwellers are given an equal voice in political institutions. This paper seeks to close this gap by developing and testing an analytical framework that addresses the methodological challenges involved in measuring this form of representation both in substantive and descriptive terms. Our empirical contribution is threefold. First, we use cross-national public and expert survey data to analyze the convergence between parties’ and voters’ issue positions depending on the degree of urbanization of the latter’s place of residence. Second, we assess how well national parliaments mirror the rural-urban composition of populations in several European countries. Finally, drawing on data from a unique survey in Spain, we examine citizens’ perceptions of the rural-urban provenance of elected officials and how such perceptions relate to political satisfaction and support for correcting measures. Results show that rural citizens are descriptively underrepresented in national parliaments, albeit to varying degrees across countries. Moreover, perceived descriptive underrepresentation among rural citizens correlates with demands for more rural MPs. Finally, rural residents appear to be only slightly further apart from parties in terms of left-right alignment and only certain issue positions.