In U.S. rural areas can very be sparsely populated , the effect of neighbors and family nearby may not be as strong perhaps. Or perhaps this could be because j

In U.S. rural areas can very be sparsely populated , the effect of neighbors and family nearby may not be as strong perhaps. Or perhaps this could be because job losses have had heavier impact on industries based in the cities, like travel and tourism and less so in rural towns, which in turn kept the rates lower.