Population Health Research Brief Series

Rural mortality rates have been higher than urban mortality rates for decades in the United States. Now, higher COVID-19 mortality rates in rural areas threaten to exacerbate the existing rural mortality penalty.

This brief shows that rural counties had higher average years of potential life lost than urban counties in both 2019 and 2020. However, the increase in YPLL between 2019 and 2020 was largest in small rural counties and large rural counties adjacent to metro areas. Federal, state, and local governments must target social, structural, and policy determinants of health and premature mortality that disproportionately affect rural residents.