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Rural Health Information Hub

Finding Statistics and Data Related to Rural Health – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Finding Statistics and Data Related to Rural Health.

Environmental Data and Methods from the Accumulating Data to Optimally Predict Obesity Treatment (Adopt) Core Measures Environmental Working Group
Describes available datasets on walkability, neighborhood deprivation, urbanicity, personal safety, and food environment in relationship to weight loss interventions. Utilizes both rural-urban commuting areas (RUCA) codes and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) urban/rural locale definitions to disaggregate the data.
Additional links: Data Files
Author(s): Beth A. Slotman, David G. Stinchcomb, Tiffany M. Powell-Wiley, et al.
Citation: Data in Brief, 41
Date: 04/2022
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Over Two-Thirds of the Nation's Counties Had Natural Decrease in 2021
Presents county-level population changes from 2020-2021 based on U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2021 Population Estimates data. Reports on micropolitan and metropolitan areas and discusses impact of aging populations and COVID-19 on counties. Includes a U.S. map depicting percent population change by county.
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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What Can You Learn About Counties from the American Community Survey?
Interactive mapping system that highlights and provides access to county-level data on key topics from the 2016-2020 American Community Survey 5-year estimates, including poverty rates, educational attainment, health insurance coverage, and more.
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Rural Children's Health and Health Care
Examines differences in child health conditions by rural and urban residency. Explores differences in use of preventative dental and medical services by poverty rate, adverse childhood experiences, overweight and obesity, food insecurity, and physical activity.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Maternal and Child Health Bureau
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Population Denominator Data Sources and Data for Use with HCUP Databases (Updated with 2021 Population Data)
Identifies sources of population data that can be used with Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) databases to calculate rates of hospital care events per population. Includes rural-urban population data sources. Appendix A, Tables A.6 and A.7 provide U.S. population figures from 2000 through 2021 for a 4-category urban-rural definition and a 6-category urban-rural definition.
Date: 2022
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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The School-Based Health Alliance Child Health and Education Mapping Tool
An interactive mapping resource that focuses on education and healthcare access among low-income children using geographic information systems (GIS). County-level data and statistics included for child health, education, and socioeconomic status.
Date: 2022
Sponsoring organization: School-Based Health Alliance
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Federal Data for Conducting Patient-Centered Outcomes Research on Economic Outcomes
Examines 29 federal and federally-funded healthcare data sources relevant to patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) on economic outcomes to find gaps to aid future data collection efforts. Exhibit 2 reports on the overall characteristics for the 29 data sources by data source steward, how the data is collected, aggregation level, observation length, how often the data is collected, observable social determinants of health (SDOH) measures, and observable factors related to health equity, which includes rural-urban status. Exhibit A-2 outlines each characteristic mentioned above for all 29 data sources included in the analysis.
Date: 09/2021
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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The Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2020
Provides estimates of poverty for the official poverty measure and the supplemental poverty measure, which takes into account government programs that support low-income families. Appendix Tables 1, 2, and 8 provide data for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.
Author(s): Liana E. Fox, Kalee Burns
Date: 09/2021
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Poverty and Access to Internet, by County
Data visualization representing internet access via computers and smartphones, broadband access, and percentage of individuals in poverty at the county level.
Date: 06/2021
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2018
Provides data on computer and Internet use by household characteristics, including location in a rural or urban area, for the nation and by region. Includes information on owning a desktop or laptop computer, owning a smartphone, owning a tablet, having an Internet subscription, and having broadband access.
Author(s): Michael Martin
Date: 04/2021
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Last Updated: 3/26/2025