Disability Futures

Rural landscapes dominate American geography. Depending on the definitions used, rural areas account for 72% to 97% of the total landmass of the United States. However, only a minority of Americans live in rural areas (approximately 15-19% again depending on the definition). Yet, people living in rural areas represent a higher percentage of people who are unemployed, living in poverty, are elderly, and experience a disability. Further, it has been well documented that individuals with disabilities living in rural areas face unique challenges in acquiring services and supports. For example, rural residents typically rely on services that are more informal and less specialized; must travel farther and pay more for those services; and tend to receive lower quality services than their urban counterparts (Whitener, Weber, & Duncan, 2001; Dabson & Weber, 2008).

The chart above shows the rate of disability across county types and are for all age groups. The rate of disability across the nation is 12.4%. However, when looking at just the rates of disability in metropolitan counties, the most urban county type, we see that number drop slightly to 11.7%. As counties get more rural the rate of disability increases to 15.5% in micropolitan counties to 17.7% in noncore counties (the most rural counties). Clearly, disability matters for rural America, but why is this? In the past policy makers and researchers have speculated that these higher rates could be due to the older population of rural counties. Indeed, the national rate of individuals aged 65 years and older is 13.6% of the population but this number increases to 15.7% in micropolitan counties and 18% in noncore counties, mirroring disability rates. Explore these data further in the map below and the links that follow.