The Most Rural Counties Have the Fewest Health Care Services Available

Access to health care depends on the three pillars of affordability, availability, and willingness to seek care. USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) researchers compared the availability of health care based on a county’s degree of urbanization. They found that during 2017–19 residents of the most rural counties may have had more difficulty finding and using health care services than residents living in metropolitan areas or more rural counties with population hubs. The most rural counties had fewer health care facilities and were more likely to have health professional shortage areas, the research showed.