The dominant political narrative in Norway over the past half century maintains that the country is facing major challenges due to centralisation and urbanisation of the population. Responding to this assumption, this article argues that a significant segment of the population is in fact spending more time in rural areas when we consider the impact of second home mobility. This argument is based on a theoretical review of the ontological trajectories of settlement and mobility. Set in a rural‐urban perspective, it addresses key demographic trends contrasting the sedentarist perspective for the registration of the population with the alternative view of time spent in rural locations. Based on the scope of the demographic shift and the apparent limitations of registration, it is argued that second home mobility re‐assembles the rural in demographic as well as economic terms and should therefore be an integral part of studies of rural development.