Kansas

State Office of Rural Health

Kansas Office of Primary Care & Rural Health

Email: kdhe.ruralhealth@ks.gov

Serves as the State Office of Rural Health (SORH) for Kansas and aids rural and medically underserved communities in the state. Helps build sustainable access to quality, patient-centered primary healthcare services. Focuses on supporting the primary care and rural health workforce, connecting local providers and partners to resources and programs, and strengthening system-wide performance improvement capacity.
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Kansas Nonmetro Population

2,912,619

Estimated population

892,265 (30.6%)

People living in nonmetro areas

Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020 estimate

Kansas Rural Healthcare Facilities

82

Critical Access Hospitals

187

Rural Health Clinics

54

Federally Qualified Health Centers*

26

Short Term/PPS Hospitals*

*Sites according to data.HRSA.gov (July 2023), showing only locations outside of U.S Census Bureau Urban Areas with a population of 50,000 or more

Selected Social Determinants of Health for Rural Kansas

8.1% of Kansas residents lack health insurance (Kaiser, 2021). According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the average per capita income for Kansans in 2020 was $56,099, with the rural per capita income at $48,618. The ERS reports, based on 2020 ACS data, that the poverty rate in rural Kansas is 11.9%, compared with 10.1% in urban areas of the state. 10.4% of the rural population has not completed high school, while 7.5% of the urban population lacks a high school diploma according to 2017-2021 ACS data reported by ERS. The unemployment rate in rural Kansas is at 2.7%, and in urban Kansas it is at 3.5% (USDA-ERS, 2021).