People in rural Arkansas are impacted by a shortage of health care options and professionals in their communities.  Many of the rural counties have been designed as Medically Underserved Areas (MUA) and have also been identified as suffering from shortages of Health Professionals in Primary Care, Mental Health Care, and Dental Care.  For example, rural areas in Arkansas have 73 primary care doctors for every 100,000 residents, while cities have 133.

Arkansas medically underserved areas, 2019

Data Source: Arkansas Department of Health Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, April 2019

Arkansas Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas, 2019

Data Source: Arkansas Department of Health Office of Rural Health and Primary Care

The ability of rural residents to cover the cost of healthcare also contributes to poor health outcomes in these communities.  While 15.3 percent of Arkansans report that they were not able to see a doctor in the past 12 months due to the cost, more than 20 percent of residents in rural communities did so.

We know that people who live in rural counties tend to have shorter life expectancies.  Babies in those counties tend to have higher infant death rates.  And the people there are more likely to struggle with low health literacy. 

In many ways people who live in Arkansas’s rural areas have the same barriers to good health as people who live in Arkansas’s cities. However, they may also experience barriers that people who live in cities may not.  For example, people who live in rural counties have higher rates of chronic diseases and are more likely to be involved in serious accidents.  Yet people who live in rural areas must travel greater distances to see a doctor or go to the hospital.  In some rural counties, there are no hospitals. People who live in rural communities may not have grocery stores where they can buy food for a healthy diet, such as fresh fruits or vegetables.  Barriers such as these must be removed if we want all Arkansans to have the same chance to enjoy good health. 

Nearly half of Arkansans – 44% - live in rural areas, with 53 of the 75 counties in the state being classified as rural.

Rural counties in Arkansas

Data Source: US Census Bureau, 2018