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. 2021 Jan 5;118(1):2019378118.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2019378118.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural America

J Tom Mueller  1 , Kathryn McConnell  2 , Paul Berne Burow  3 , Katie Pofahl  2 , Alexis A Merdjanoff  4 , Justin Farrell  2
Affiliations

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural America

J Tom Mueller et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Despite considerable social scientific attention to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on urbanized areas, very little research has examined its impact on rural populations. Yet rural communities-which make up tens of millions of people from diverse backgrounds in the United States-are among the nation's most vulnerable populations and may be less resilient to the effects of such a large-scale exogenous shock. We address this critical knowledge gap with data from a new survey designed to assess the impacts of the pandemic on health-related and economic dimensions of rural well-being in the North American West. Notably, we find that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural populations have been severe, with significant negative impacts on unemployment, overall life satisfaction, mental health, and economic outlook. Further, we find that these impacts have been generally consistent across age, ethnicity, education, and sex. We discuss how these findings constitute the beginning of a much larger interdisciplinary COVID-19 research effort that integrates rural areas and pushes beyond the predominant focus on cities and nation-states.

Keywords: COVID-19; economy; health; rural America; well-being.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
(Left) Map of rural counties included in the survey sample frame highlighted in orange. (Top Right) COVID-19 daily case rate per 100,000 people in 2020 across the United States (20). The highlighted bars indicate the period of time when the survey was fielded. (Bottom Right) COVID-19 daily case rate per 100,000 people in 2020 in rural western counties (20). The highlighted bars indicate the period of time when the survey was fielded.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Error bars represent 95% CIs.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Reported local economic health perceptions. Error bars represent 95% CIs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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