COVID-19 related Attitudes and Risk Perceptions across Urban, Rural, and Suburban Areas in the United States

Abstract

This study identifies differences in COVID-19 related attitudes and risk perceptions among urban, rural, and suburban populations in the US using data from an online, nationwide survey collected during April-October 2020. In general, rural respondents were found to be less concerned by the pandemic and a lower proportion of rural respondents support staying at home and shutting down businesses. While only about half of rural respondents are concerned about getting severe reactions themselves from COVID-19 (compared to ~60% for urban and suburban respondents), all place types respondents are concerned about friends or family members getting severe reactions (~75%).