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ADULTS AGED 25-54 IN RURAL AREAS HAD INCREASE IN MORTALITY RATES IN RECENT DECADES Jan. 2, 2025
Source: USDA news release
Rural areas have experienced an increase in both natural-cause and external-cause mortality rates among the prime working-age population--those aged 25 to 54. Researchers with USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) analyzed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention death data from two separate three-year periods, 1999-2001 and 2017-2019, for two types of death categories in both rural and urban areas.
External causes include drug overdose, suicide, and alcohol-induced deaths, while deaths from natural causes include disease-related deaths like heart disease and cancer. Externally caused death rates increased for the prime working-age population in both rural and urban areas, although rural areas had a slightly greater increase (36 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared with 29).
However, researchers found that only in rural areas did natural-cause mortality rates increase for the prime working-age population. Rural, natural-cause morality rates increased by 14 deaths per 100,000 residents, while urban rates decreased by 37. About 46 million people--almost 14 percent of the U.S. population--live in rural areas.
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