Abstract: Exploring the coupled and coordinated relationship between urban-rural integration and rural resilience helps enhance rural capacity to withstand internal and external risks and promote new urban-rural relations. This study examines 37 counties, cities, and districts in the Wuling Mountain Area of Hunan Province. Using county-level panel data from 2008 to 2023, and applying the entropy weighting method and coupling coordination model, it analyzes the coupling mechanism between urban-rural integrated development and rural resilience in underdeveloped regions. The results show that: 1) The urban-rural integration index increased rapidly, displaying a spatial pattern of high in the east and lower in the central region, while the rural resilience index grew at a slowing rate, with a distribution of high in the east and low in the west. 2) The coupling coordination degree improved steadily, with most regions shifting from basic imbalance to moderate coordination and some reaching high coordination; the spatial pattern exhibits positive correlation and significant clustering. 3) Most counties were rural resilience lagging types, and insufficient resilience is the main constraint on coordinated development. Resistance and recovery capacity exerts a restraining effect, whereas adaptation and adjustment capacity promotes coordination in some areas. 4) Geographical detector results indicate that average elevation, the added value of the secondary and tertiary industries, and the ratio of urban-rural construction land are key determinants. Multi-factor interactions show stronger explanatory power than single factors, with the interaction between average elevation and the added value of the secondary and tertiary industries being the strongest.