Abstract: Urban-rural integrated development is the fundamental pathway to continuously increase farmers' income and narrow the urban-rural gap. From the perspective of urban-rural integration, this paper systematically analyzes the deep-seated dilemmas constraining the sustained income growth of farmers in Tianjin. The study finds that the rural residents’ income in Tianjin still faces three structural dilemmas though it has been growing steadily and the city has long maintained the nation's best urban-rural income ratio: First, in terms of income disparity, the absolute urban-rural income gap continues to widen, rising from 16,055 yuan in 2012 to 25,634 yuan in 2025, with a notable gap compared to developed provinces and municipalities; Second, in terms of income structure, net property income accounts for only 4% of total income, with an urban-rural ratio as high as 3.75, making it the biggest shortfall in income growth; wage income growth is slowing, and net operating income is fluctuating significantly; Third, in terms of resource allocation, both urban and rural employment populations have declined, with rural employment loss being more severe—dropping by 32.62% from 2017 to 2024, and at the same time the divergence in urban and rural consumption structures further constrains the two-way flow of production factors. To address the above dilemmas, a long-term mechanism is constructed in this paper from six aspects: stabilizing wage income, expanding operating income, revitalizing net property income, increasing net transfer income, activating consumption potential, and improving organizational management. This study is to provide theoretical support and practical references for sustained income growth of farmers in Tianjin and similar regions.

Key words: farmers’ income growth, urban-rural integrated development, income structure, factor mobility, resource allocation