rural America

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

During the 2016 presidential election, many rural communities supported and voted for then-candidate Donald Trump. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Brothers Tim (left) and Bill (right) Jackson have been watching the initial moves of the Trump administration with different views. Brian Mann for NPR hide caption

Who speaks for rural America? Farmers want international trade deals and relief from regulations. But small towns are focused on re-inventing themselves to attract a new generation. FrankvandenBergh/Getty Images hide caption

Susan Frawley Eisele holds her 6-week-old son, Albert Jr., at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City in 1936. Eisele, of Blue Earth, Minn., won an essay contest with Country Home magazine and was named best American rural correspondent of 1936. Courtesy of Kitty Eisele hide caption

Mendocino, Calif., lures vacationing tourists and retirees. But the lone hospital on this remote stretch of coast, in nearby Fort Bragg, is struggling financially. David McSpadden/Wikimedia hide caption

One of the first signs drivers see on the way into Unionville, Mo. is this billboard advertising cardiology at Putnam County Memorial Hospital. Offering specialty services, like cardiology and psychiatry turned the hospital around, community leaders say. Bram Sable-Smith/KBIA/Side Effects Public Media hide caption

Leo Thompson stands in front of his isolated home, where he has lived for 35 years, on the Navajo Nation reservation. Like an estimated 18,000 Navajos homes, his his isn't connected to the electrical grid — it's a half-mile from the nearest line — and until recently Thompson used a generator for power. Ibby Caputo for NPR hide caption