For the first time in its annual survey of rural America, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that mortality rates of working-age adults are on the rise because of opioid and heroin overdoses.
Continuing longtime trends, rural areas are still seeing declining populations, the rebound from the Great Recession is slow and poverty remains a persistent problem, according to the USDA鈥檚 鈥� ,鈥� released Thursday.
Mortality rates from 2010-2016 increased for all adults in rural areas between the ages of 20 and 54, USDA geographer John Cromartie said. In urban areas, the increase in the death rate was limited to young adults, ages 20 and 29.
鈥淭his is an unexpected and in many ways unprecedented turnaround in mortality rates,鈥� Cromartie says. 鈥淭here are several interrelated factors that have contributed to this trend, including the rise in prescription medication abuse, especially opioids, and the more recent related rise in heroin overdose deaths.鈥�
Heart disease, cancer and other natural causes of death also increased in the 20- to 54-year-old age group, he says. If that age-specific mortality pattern continues, it will not only decrease the overall population, but also increase the amount of those dependent on the social system, as there will be fewer people working, Cromartie says.
The U.S. Census shows six consecutive years of population decline in rural counties, with 14 percent of the U.S. population now living in rural America, distributed across 72 percent of the land area, according to the survey.
Counties in the Great Plains and Corn Belt have seen population losses for decades, Cromartie says, but what鈥檚 new is the decreases extending into the Eastern U.S. Only four counties in that region showed population growth, thanks to a decline in those living in the suburbs and the loss of manufacturing jobs.
The only rural areas with population growth are in concentrated in the Western U.S., Cromartie says. The oil and gas boom affected the northern Great Plains and southwestern and west Texas, while scenic amenities and recreation economies attracted new residents in the West, though rates of growth were slower than before the recession, he says.
鈥淩ural America is not a static entity,鈥� Cromartie says. 鈥淲e are an urbanizing country.鈥�
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