Deb Ehrenthal | Director, Social Science Research Institute

Infant mortality rates in the United States increase as counties become more rural. This mirrors the “rural mortality penalty” among adults, where those living in rural areas have higher mortality rates at every age than those in more urban settings. By analyzing linked and geocoded administrative data, we show that the higher infant mortality rates in rural counties are explained by higher rates of poverty and not by more-limited access to health care or high rates of tobacco use.