Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Rural-urban differences

Medications for Opioid Use Disorder among Adults Who Had an Opioid Use Disorder
Offers National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data on adults receiving medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) between 2022 and 2024 by age, sex, region, and metropolitan county status.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details
Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year
Offers National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data on substance use disorder between 2022 and 2024. Includes break down of use for adults and adolescents between 12 and 17 by various demographic and geographic factors including 5 levels of urbanization.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details
Difficulties in Functioning Among Children in the United States: 2021–2023
Offers data on children with difficulties in functioning between 2021 and 2023. Domains investigated include seeing, hearing, walking, communication, behavior, learning, fine motor, playing, self-care, remembering, concentrating, coping with change, relationships, and affect. Includes comparison by 4 levels of urbanization.
Author(s): Julie D. Weeks, Jennifer H. Madans, Lindsey I. Black, Nazik Elgaddal, Benjamin Zablotsky
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
view details
Trends in Firearm Death among Middle and High-School Aged Rural and Urban Adolescents from 2001 to 2022
Examines changes over time in firearm mortality among middle and high school-aged adolescents in metropolitan and non-metropolitan settings, utilizing 2001-2022 CDC Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) data. Includes breakdowns of firearm-related homicides, suicides, and unintentional deaths by year, with comparisons to other leading non-firearm related causes of death.
Author(s): Elizabeth H. Weybright, Heather F. Terral, Kelsey M. Conrick, Patrick M. Carter, Ali Rowhani-Rahbar
Citation: Injury Epidemiology, 12, 53
Date: 09/2025
view details
Trends in Influenza- and Pneumonia-Related Mortality in Lung Cancer Patients from 1999 to 2022: A Retrospective CDC WONDER Analysis
Examines demographic factors associated with increased influenza- and pneumonia-related mortality in lung cancer patients, utilizing 1999-2022 CDC WONDER data. Includes data and discussion of rural-urban mortality disparities.
Author(s): Kate Woods, Mustafa Beidas, Vikram Murugan, et al.
Citation: Respiratory Research, 26, 267
Date: 09/2025
view details
Traffic Safety Facts, 2024: Truck Crash Facts
Provide statistics on crashes involving trucks in North Dakota from 2017 through 2024. Includes data on cause of crash, manner of collision, location of collision, injuries and fatalities, and if the crash happened on a rural versus urban road.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
view details
Comparison of Care in Hospital Outpatient Departments and Independent Physician Offices: Updated Findings for 2019-2024
Examines differences in Medicare payments for services at an independent physician's office (IPO) or a hospital outpatient department (HOPD). Utilizes 2019-2024 data to analyze characteristics of Medicare patients seen in HOPDs and IPOs, including rural versus urban location.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
view details
Comparing Utilization of Home Health Care Between Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries by Rural-Urban Status
Policy report describing differences in utilization of home health care between beneficiaries enrolled in Traditional Medicare (TM) and Medicare Advantage (MA), and by rural or urban status. Examines differences in use of home health overall, provision of specific services, including physical and occupational therapy, and receipt of care from home health agencies by enrollment in TM and MA. Features statistics with breakdowns by urban, large rural, small rural, and isolated rural areas.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
view details
Fill Patterns of Glucose-Lowering Drugs with Cardiovascular and Kidney Benefits in the Rural and Urban United States, 2012–2021
Analyzes fill rates for GLP1RA and SGLT2i glucose-lowering drugs among people with type 2 diabetes by level of rurality and other demographics, utilizing 2012-2021 OptumLabs Data Warehouse claims data. Discusses how geographic differences in prescribing may influence cardiovascular and kidney disease outcomes among people with type 2 diabetes.
Author(s): Kyle Steiger, Kavya Sindhu Swarna, Jeph Herrin, Rozalina G. McCoy
Citation: Journal of General Internal Medicine, 41, 126-133
Date: 08/2025
view details
Income, Healthy Food Availability, and Consumption Mediate Rural–Urban Health Disparities
Discusses rural versus urban health disparities and how healthy food availability and consumption mediate disparities. Utilizes national and state-level survey data from Oregon residents regarding their self-reported income, perceived fruit and vegetable (FV) availability, FV consumption, and health status, analyzing their associated mediating effect on rural health disparities.
Author(s): Benjamin J Smith, A Janet Tomiyama, Deborah H John, Bryan Mantell, Elliot T Berkman
Citation: International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 32(6), 939-952
Date: 08/2025
view details