Michigan is the only state made up of two peninsulas, the lower "Mitten" and the Upper Peninsula, or U.P. Michigan covers 56,804 square miles, with a 2019 estimated population of 9,986,857 people – 1,797,835 living in rural areas (USDA-ERS). Lansing, the capital, is located in the middle of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. The state's largest cities are Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Warren. According to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 79.2% of the state's population is white, 14.1% is African-American, 3.4% is Asian, 0.7% is American Indian or Alaska Native, and 5.3% is of Hispanic or Latino origin.

Michigan Rural Healthcare Facilities

According to data.HRSA.gov, as of January 2021 Michigan had:

• 36 Critical Access Hospitals
• 192 Rural Health Clinics
• 122 Federally Qualified Health Center sites located outside of Urbanized Areas
• 35 short term hospitals located outside of Urbanized Areas

Selected Social Determinants of Health for Rural Michigan

5.8% of the Michigan residents lack health insurance (Kaiser, 2019). According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the average per capita income for Michiganians in 2019 was $49,228, with the per capita income at $41,145. The ERS reports, based on 2019 ACS data, that the poverty rate in rural Michigan is 13.3%, compared with 12.9% in urban areas of the state. 9.3% of the rural population has not completed high school, while 9.2% of the urban population lacks a high school diploma according to 2015-2019 ACS data reported by ERS. The unemployment rate in rural Michigan is at 4.7% while in urban Michigan it is at 4.0% (USDA-ERS, 2019).

Michigan Center for Rural Health
Phone: 517.355.7979
Email: com.mcrhaa@msu.edu
Serves as the Michigan State Office of Rural Health (SORH) and the Michigan State Rural Health Association. Supports the development of partnerships among nonprofits, health departments, hospitals, government, and academia to create new opportunities in quality of care, recruitment and retention of healthcare providers, distance education, and emergency medical services (EMS).
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