% Rural*

A Demographics measure

About

Percentage of population living in a census-defined rural area. The 2025 Annual Data Release used data from 2020 for this measure.

Measuring health and equity by place along the rural to urban spectrum is an essential part of health improvement efforts. Still, there is not one definition for what classifies a community as rural. Community conditions vary among rural and urban places resulting in differences in health outcomes among populations in these places. The presence and size of disparities between rural and urban places are sensitive to the definition or classification system used to define rural and urban places. For example, some classification systems for rurality characterize the density of populations or housing units outside of metropolitan areas, while others consider proximity to metropolitan areas or commuting patterns.1 These classification systems originate from and are used in various federal policymaking contexts, which has implications for allocation of resources.1,2 As a result, some of the differences in health among rural and urban places are due to longstanding policy, practice, norms and traditions that impact whether and how resources are allocated. People and communities can build power to structure society so that everyone benefits. Assuring that laws, policies, practices and traditions address historical harms and create a future of opportunity for all is possible.

Data and methods

Search by county, state or ZIP code

Select year

2016