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VHA Office of Rural Health

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About Rural Veterans

Veterans reside in rural communities for a variety of reasons including: closer proximity to family, friends, and community; open space for recreation; more privacy; lower cost of living; and less crowded towns and schools. While Veterans may enjoy the benefits of rural living, they may also experience rural health care challenges that are intensified by combat-related injuries and illnesses.

Rural Veteran in a VA Clinic
One-third of the enrolled Veteran population is rural.

Rural Veteran Demographics

The National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics has estimated there are:

  • 17.5 million civilian Veterans living today

    • 13 million urban Veterans
    • 4.5 million rural and highly Veterans

The VHA Support Service Center reported in Fiscal Year 2025:

  • 9.1 million Veterans are enrolled for VHA services and benefits

    • 6.1 million enrolled urban Veterans
    • 3 million enrolled rural and highly rural Veterans

The rural Veteran population is older and medically complex. Rural and highly rural Veterans are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and heart conditions. Veterans serving in more recent military conflicts may also have multiple medical and combat-related health needs.

  • Rural Veterans enroll for VHA care at a higher rate than their urban counterparts - 66% vs. 47%.
  • 65% of enrolled rural and highly rural Veterans are age 55 or older.
  • 2 million enrolled rural Veterans have military service-connected health care needs.
  • More than 370,000 rural Veterans (not service-connected or disabled) are eligible for care because they fall below VA’s income limit.

Rural Definition

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) uses the Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes system to define rurality. Developed by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the RUCA codes system takes into account population density as well as how closely a community is linked socio-economically to larger urban centers. RUCA is based on how the United States Census Bureau counts citizens.

  • Urban Areas: Census tracts with at least 30% of the population residing in an urbanized area as defined by the Census Bureau
  • Rural Areas: Land areas not defined as urban or highly rural
  • Highly Rural Areas: Sparsely populated areas – less than 10% of the working population commutes to any community larger than an urbanized cluster, which is typically a town of no more than 2,500 people

Click here to learn more about RUCA.


The VHA Office of Health Equity (OHE) is an ORH program partner. ORE champions the elimination of health disparities and achieving health equity for all Veterans.

Visit Access to Care Among Rural Veterans on the ORE website or download the ORE Access to Care Among Rural Veterans Info Brief.

Rural Health - Navigation

*Link will take Veterans outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) website. VA does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of the linked websites. The link will open in a new window for the content of the linked websites.

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