This website is being reviewed for updates. Some information is offline. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Rural-urban differences

Fast Facts on U.S. Hospitals, 2025
Offers resources highlighting data from the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey. Provides data on the number of hospitals by type, ownership, system-affiliated versus independent, and rural versus urban location. Includes an interactive map of community hospitals in the United States.
Additional links: Infographics from Fast Facts on U.S. Hospitals, 2025
Date: 2025
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
view details
Publicly-Available Data Sets Containing Consumer-Generated Internet Speed Test Data May Leave Rural Communities Behind
Explores how well rural counties are represented in two publicly-available datasets of consumer-generated broadband speed tests: Measurement Labs (M-Lab) and Ookla for Good (Ookla).
Author(s): Cari A. Bogulski, Maysam Rabbani, Corey J. Hayes, Aysenur Betul Cengil, Hari Eswaran
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Rural Telehealth Evaluation Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Regional Campuses
view details
2024 Communications Marketplace Report
Examines the state of competition across the broader communications marketplace, as well as laws, regulations, regulatory practices, or marketplace practices that pose a barrier to competitive entry and expansion of the marketplace. Includes data on tribal and rural areas throughout, including trends in broadband adoption and the percentage of households with multiple provider options between 2020-2023.
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organization: Federal Communications Commission
view details
Arizona State Health Assessment, 2024
Reports on the health of people in Arizona, including population subgroups, social determinants of health, and priority health issues. Discusses health and access disparities in rural, tribal, and border areas. Includes county-level data.
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Department of Health Services
view details
CMS Office of Minority Health: Health Equity Data Book
Provides data on disparities in participation in Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) programs, including data on demographics of covered individuals, chronic conditions, behavioral health conditions, and social determinants of health. Contains rural data for select programs.
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
view details
Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection System (GADCS) Report: Year 1 and Year 2 Cohort Analysis
Provides data from the first two cohorts of ground ambulance organizations selected to participate in the Ground Ambulance Data Collection System. Includes response rates, information on data cleaning and validation, statistics summarizing responses, and analyses exploring relationships between costs per service and organizational characteristics. Features statistics with breakdowns by urban, rural, and super rural areas.
Author(s): Andrew W. Mulcahy, Sara E. Heins, Petra W. Rasmussen, et al.
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, RAND Corporation
view details
Behavioral Health Service Use among Individuals Enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP Before and During The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
Examines behavioral health (BH) service usage changes among Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollees during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). Compares BH service initiation and treatment before the PHE (2018-2019) and during the PHE (2019-2020), with further data breakdowns by enrollee BH condition and demographic variables, including rural versus urban location.
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
view details
Estimating Effectiveness of Lane Keeping Assist Systems in Fatal Road Departure Crashes
Results of a study evaluating the effectiveness of lane keeping assist systems in reducing fatal single-vehicle road departure crashes, based on data from 2016-2022. Features statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural areas.
Author(s): Helen Scharber
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
view details
Texas Medicaid Managed Care Provider Network Adequacy Report, 2024
Reports information and statistics on managed care organizations (MCOs) and their obligations to provide access to services for Medicaid members in Texas. Discusses MCO contractual obligations and performance related to geography throughout, with breakdowns by metro, micro, and rural area.
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organization: Texas Health and Human Services
view details
Medicaid Behavioral Health Providers Delivering Most Behavioral Health Services via Telehealth Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Issue Brief
Examines the extent to which Medicaid behavioral health providers shifted their practices to mostly telebehavioral health services during the COVID-19 pandemic through December 2021. Explores differences between specialty and non-specialty behavioral health providers, providers serving enrollees with mental health conditions versus substance use disorders, and rural and urban providers.
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
view details