Abstract: Due to the large fluctuation of the influent quality and quantity of rural domestic wastewater, it is not easy to choose the appropriate treatment technology. In addition, due to the rural residents’ habit of repeatedly using domestic wastewater in some areas of water shortage, the concentration of organic pollutants in rural domestic wastewater is higher than that in urban wastewater. Membrane bioreactor (MBR) has been widely used in the field of wastewater treatment because of its small footprint, high biochemical efficiency and good effluent quality. The application status of MBR technology in rural domestic wastewater at home and small-scale domestic wastewater at abroad, the membrane pollution control and the energy consumption optimization were reviewed. Aiming at the problem of membrane fouling control, it was suggested to conduct in-depth research from several aspects, such as strengthening electric field assistance in MBR pollution control, hydrophilic modification of membrane with inorganic nano materials and in-depth exploration of pollution mechanism. In view of the problem of energy saving and consumption reduction, it was suggested to control the aeration to optimize the overall energy consumption and reduce the operation cost, so as to promote the dissemination and application of MBR in rural areas.