This partnership poll from The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the views and experiences of people living in small towns and rural areas across the United States, and how they are similar or different from those in urban and suburban settings. It is the 31st in a series of surveys dating back to 1995 that have been conducted as part of the Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation Survey Project. In part, the survey was designed to shed light on the political views of those living in rural counties where Donald Trump scored a 26-percentage-point victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, a substantial increase from Mitt Romney’s 16-point margin over Barack Obama in 2012. In addition to politics, the survey gauges rural Americans’ views of their communities, their sense of shared values, their economic concerns, and their views on issues of race and immigration.

This brief explores where health care fits in rural residents’ political views and also examines how rural Americans’ health care experiences compare with their urban and suburban counterparts. In addition to the survey, Kaiser and The Post conducted two focus groups with rural voters in Ashtabula County, Ohio. Focus group findings related to health care are incorporated in this report; a Washington Post video compilation of the focus groups is available here.

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