In the new era of socioeconomic development in China, examining the types of rural development is an important task in implementing the strategy of rural revitalization. The purpose of this study was to trace the temporal and spatial changes of rural development types at the county level in China in order to identify the scale and spatial layout of various rural development types over the past decades. The main method is as follows: According to the proportions of the three main industrial sectors in 2000 and 2015, all county-level units (except municipal districts) are classified into agricultural-oriented, industrial-oriented, business-service, as well as the balanced development models. By means of spatial analysis in GIS, this study analyzed and summarized the differentiation and characteristics of change of the countrywide rural development pathways, and further connected the resulting pattern with the adjustment of regional development strategies. The results show that: (1) The types of rural development at the county level in 2000 and 2015 show different regional distribution patterns, which are related to the current situation of land use, the change of natural resources endowments, and the adjustment of national regional development strategies in different regions in a given period of time. (2) During the 15 years from 2000 to 2015, the first six major change types (each accounting for more than 5%) are industrial to balanced type, balanced to industrial type, balanced to agricultural type, agricultural to balanced type, business and tourism to balanced type, and balanced to business and tourism development type. (3) As a whole, the concentrated belts of all types of development are more “crowded” in the central and western regions by 2015, while the county-level units in most parts of the eastern region, especially the southeast, are dominated by balanced development type. The conclusions are that there are many types of rural development throughout the country, and the spatiotemporal changes are complex. The pattern of change is closely related to the continuously adjusted regional development strategy in the country.