Here are four survey findings:
1. People in the West North Central region — comprising Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Missouri — have an average travel time of 15.8 minutes to the closest hospital.
2. Americans living in the Pacific region — comprising Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington — have an average travel time of 11.4 minutes to the nearest hospital, the shortest travel time of any region.
3. The survey revealed people in rural areas live an average of 10.5 miles from the nearest hospital. Americans living in suburban areas and urban areas live an average of 5.6 miles and 4.4 miles, respectively, from the nearest acute care facility.
4. Taking local traffic patterns into account, rural Americans have an average travel time of 17 minutes to the nearest hospital, while those in suburban and urban communities have an average travel time of 12 minutes and 10 minutes, respectively.
Access the Pew Research Center survey results here. The full methodology can be found here.
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