A new study finds that up to 20 percent of the LGBT population in this country live in rural America. For the most part, they chose that life for the same reasons others do: tight-knit communities with a shared sense of values. Roy Hsu/Getty Images/Uppercut RF hide caption
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
Getting health care to rural areas may involve tough decisions about the role of hospitals. hmproudlove/Getty Images 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