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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Rural-urban differences

Poverty in the United States: 2023
Reports on poverty rates for 2022 and 2023, including changes in official poverty and changes in the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rate. Includes statistics for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Based on data from the 2024 and earlier Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
Author(s): Emily A. Shrider
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Income in the United States: 2023
Reports on income levels for 2022 and 2023, along with the percent change from 2022 to 2023. Includes statistics for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Based on data from the 2024 and earlier Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
Author(s): Gloria Guzman, Melissa Kollar
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. 2024
Explores maternal healthcare access and provides county-level U.S. maps that show maternity care deserts, hospitals that offer obstetric (OB) care, distribution of OB providers, travel time to maternity care, chronic conditions of birthing people, social drivers of health, and more. Includes rural versus urban characteristics of the maternal health workforce as well as access and policy discussions specific to rural areas.
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: March of Dimes
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Vital Signs: Suicide Rates and Selected County-Level Factors — United States, 2022
Examines differences in suicide rates by county-level health insurance coverage, broadband Internet access, and household income. Includes data on suicide rates for these three county-level factors for rural compared to urban areas.
Author(s): Alison L. Cammack, Mark R. Stevens, Rebecca B. Naumann, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 73(37), 810-818
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Geographic Variations in Urban-Rural Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Concentrations in the United States, 2010–2019
Compares fine particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) ambient air concentration in rural versus urban areas from 2010 to 2019, utilizing the AHRQ database on Social Determinants of Health. Examines rural-urban changes in PM2.5 concentration over time, with breakdowns by census tract race and ethnicity, poverty, residents under age 15, and residents over age 65.
Author(s): Daniel J. Kilpatrick, Peiyin Hung, Elizabeth Crouch, et al.
Citation: GeoHealth, 8(9), e2023GH000920
Date: 09/2024
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Financial Performance of Rural and Urban Hospitals in the Medicare Shared Savings Program
Presents financial performance trends of hospitals that participated in Medicare's Shared Savings Program (SSP) from 2011-2018. Compares trends in 6 financial outcomes between SSP and non-SSP hospitals, and differences in these trends among rural and urban hospitals.
Author(s): Huang Huang, Xi Zhu, Fred Ullrich, A. Clinton MacKinney, Keith Mueller
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Evaluating Fentanyl Test Strips as a Harm Reduction Strategy in Rural and Urban Counties: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial
Protocol for a study examining a harm reduction intervention which will provide education and distribute fentanyl test strips to people with recent use of illicit or street-purchased drugs in rural and urban Ohio communities. Describes study design, including selection and comparison of rural versus urban subgroups.
Author(s): Ashley Short Mejia, Gary A. Smith, Soledad A. Fernandez, et al.
Citation: Trials, 25, 587
Date: 09/2024
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Prescription Medication Use, Coverage, and Nonadherence Among Adults Age 65 and Older: United States, 2021–2022
Reports on medication use, prescription drug insurance coverage, and nonadherence due to cost for older adults between 2021 and 2022. Includes data breakdown of various demographic and health status characteristics including 4 levels of urbanization.
Author(s): Robin A. Cohen, Laryssa Mykyta
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Household Food Security in the United States in 2023
Reports on household food security, food expenditures, and use of federal food and nutrition assistance programs in 2022. Includes food insecurity statistics for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.
Additional links: Statistical Supplement, Summary
Author(s): Matthew P. Rabbitt, Madeline Reed-Jones, Laura J. Hales, Michael P. Burke
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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An Increasing Number of States Filled Conrad 30 Waivers for Recruiting International Medical Graduates
Examines the Conrad 30 visa waiver program between 2001 and 2020 and offers findings related to variations by specialty and geography at the state level. Discusses disparate distribution of Conrad physicians in rural areas.
Author(s): Tarun Ramesh, Sarah E. Brotherton, Gregory D. Wozniak, Hao Yu
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 2(9)
Date: 09/2024
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