Drowning Rates: Rural vs. Urban Counties
Children ages 0-17, unintentional drowning deaths (1999-2019)
Rural Counties
Higher Rate
Consistently elevated
Urban Counties
Lower Rate
More lifeguards, faster EMS
20-year trend: Rural drowning rates remained consistently higher than urban rates across all years studied (1999-2019)
Data source: CDC Data Brief #413 (Urban–Rural Differences in Unintentional Injury Death Rates)