Key Contact for Iowa

Iowa State Office of Rural Health and Primary Care

Phone: 515.281.7689

Helps rural communities and organizations build rural health infrastructure. Supports health systems programming to enhance effectiveness and eliminate health disparities. Provides rural health advocacy and outreach, coordination of rural health resources, and consultation to healthcare communities and providers in rural Iowa.
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Iowa Nonmetro Population

3,150,011

Estimated population

1,226,568 (38.9%)

People living in nonmetro areas

Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020 estimate

Iowa Rural Healthcare Facilities

82

Critical Access Hospitals

207

Rural Health Clinics

51

Federally Qualified Health Centers*

13

Short Term/PPS Hospitals*

*Sites located outside of Urbanized Areas according to data.HRSA.gov. July 2022.

Selected Social Determinants of Health for Rural Iowa

6.8% of Iowa residents lack health insurance (Kaiser, 2021). According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the average per capita income for Iowans in 2020 was $53,478, with the rural per capita at $50,626. The ERS reports, based on 2020 ACS data, that the poverty rate in rural Iowa is 10.3%, compared with 10.2% in urban areas of the state. 8.2% of the rural population has not completed high school, while 6.5% of the urban population lacks a high school diploma according to 2017-2021 ACS data reported by ERS. The unemployment rate in rural Iowa is at 4.1% while in urban Iowa it is at 4.3% (USDA-ERS, 2021).