According to a report published in 2014 by the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, less than 8% of all physicians and surgeons practice in rural areas.

In subsequent years, studies will also show that rural residents are less likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance coverage, more likely to be beneficiaries of Medicaid or another form of public health insurance, more likely to be unemployed, have less post-secondary education, and have lower median household incomes compared to urban residents. These trends are most pronounced across the Southeast of the United States, in Appalachia, and at the U.S.-Mexico border.