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Everyone has a different definition of rural:
USDA Definition
The United States Department of Agriculture provides definitions for rural and frontier.
Click HERE for more information
What is Rural Toolkit
The Rural Health Information Hub provides a tool for use in determining areas that meet some of the definitions of rural. Enter an address and a report will be generated to determine if the location meets the criteria for certain programs to be considered rural.
Click HERE for more information.
Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
November 20, 2024, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) issued a notice finalizing modifications to its definition of a “rural area.”
The modified definition of rural integrates the new Rural Ruggedness Scale (RRS) from the Department of Agriculture. Now the definition of rural area will include Census tracts with an RRS 5 (highly rugged) and Rural-Urban Commuting Area codes 2-3 that are at least 20 square miles in area in metropolitan counties. This update also removes the the phrase “outlying metropolitan counties without an urbanized area” and replaces it with “outlying metropolitan counties with no population from an urban area of 50,000 or more people” to reflect changes to Census definitions of urban and rural.
FORHP’s updated definition of a rural area now includes:
The updated definition includes geographic areas meeting any one, or more, of the following criteria:
- Non-metropolitan counties
- Outlying metropolitan counties with no population from an urban area of 50,000 or more people
- Census tracts with RUCA codes 4-10 in metropolitan counties
- Census tracts of at least 400 square miles in area with population density of 35 or less per square mile with RUCA codes 2-3 in metropolitan counties
- Census tracts with RRS 5 and RUCA codes 2-3 that are at least 20 square miles in area in metropolitan counties
All changes are in effect as of November 21st, 2024, and will apply to FORHP’s Notices of Funding Opportunity released in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and future years. The Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer will be updated to reflect the new definition and the changes to the Analyzer will take effect at the end of the day on November 21st. The Rural Health Information Hub is also updating their Am I Rural? tool and those updates will be live on Friday, November 22nd. Complete data files with all rural counties and census tracts using the updated rural definition will be available on FORHP’s rural data files page by Friday of this week.
HRSA Data Warehouse Rural Grants Eligibility Analyzer
The Health Resources and Services Administration Data Warehouse provide a Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer. Enter the necessary information to learn the availability of grants in the area.
Click HERE for more information.
Wyoming Partnership Access Line (PAL)
To Consult With a PAL Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist,
CALL (877) 501-PALS (7257)
This line supports Wyoming doctors, nurse practitioners, therapists, and social workers.
Wyoming Partnership Access Line is your direct line to psychiatric consultation for any pediatric patient in Wyoming (ages 0–19), regardless of their insurance status.
“The access line is so efficient. It does not interrupt your day, and it really provides that sense of ease that you are doing the right thing.”
– Dr. Andrew Rose, Pediatrician
Wyoming Telehealth Network
The Office of Rural Health collaborates with the Wyoming Divisions of Healthcare Financing, Behavioral Health, Aging, Public Health’s Maternal and Child Health Unit, and Communicable Diseases Unit to support the Wyoming Telehealth Network (WyTN).
This network supports healthcare entities, providers, and specialists to increase access to care and improve health outcomes for Wyomingites, through professional development, collaboration, and leveraging of telecommunications technology.
The website can be found here: Click
Find Information on the Office of Rural Health Website
The Office of Rural Health
This website is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of awards to the State Office of Rural Health, the Wyomlng Primary Care Office (PCO), the Medicare Flexibility (Flex) Program and the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.