rural America

Among at least some rural Americans, pragmatism may now be superseding traditional disdain for government and the prizing of rugged individualism. Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption

Houses lie at the base of Colorado National Monument. The school district in Grand Junction knows it could take years to see whether their efforts towards suicide prevention have worked. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

Drug addiction is a big concern to rural Americans, according to a new poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Alice Goldfarb/NPR hide caption

Christy Torres of Foundations Communities in Austin contacts people who bought insurance on Healthcare.Gov. to tell them it's almost time to renew. Martin Do Nascimento/KUT hide caption

A mountain of mine tailings frame a Bisbee park — a legacy of the copper mines that once fueled the local economy. Kirk Siegler/NPR hide caption

"We should be around the world. But we should also be focused on our own backyards," Microsoft President Brad Smith says. Elaine Thompson/AP hide caption

Greta Elliott, who manages a health clinic in Canby, Calif., says she didn't buy health insurance for herself because she thinks it's too expensive. April Dembosky/KQED hide caption

Volunteers distribute free food at the mobile pantry in Hurley, Va. Poverty in the coal-mining region is 29 percent, twice the national average. Unemployment is also high, and younger families are moving out. Pam Fessler/NPR hide caption

Dr. Adam McMahan has been practicing medicine in rural Alaska for three years. It's the kind of intimate, full-spectrum family medicine the 34-year-old doctor loves. Elissa Nadworny/NPR hide caption

Shelia Mendoza says she's not looking for a livelihood out of Liberty Mobility, but a little extra cash and some new friends to talk to. M.L. Schultze/WKSU hide caption

A new water tank in Strong City, Kan., (at right) sits next to one that was part of an old leaky system on a hill just outside the city limits. Frank Morris/KCUR hide caption

Cairo has lost more than half of its population in recent decades. Today, there are just under 3,000 people left. Kirk Siegler/NPR hide caption

Darvin Bentlage is a fourth-generation farmer from Golden City, Mo. He was uninsured before the ACA and featured in a video from the Department of Health and Human Services supporting the law. Screenshot/Department of Health and Human Services hide caption

Coeur d'Alene is the largest city and county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho. North Idaho counties like Kootenai have seen their population double since the 1990s. Karen Ybanez/Flickr hide caption