Connecticut State Office of Rural Health

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CT RURAL TOWNS

The Connecticut Office of Rural Health (CT-ORH) rural definition was created for the purposes of: 1) providing strategic direction for the planning and implementation of initiatives to fulfill its mission, and 2) determining rural towns' eligibility for financial support from the CT-ORH. The definition was revised and adopted by the CT-ORH Advisory Board in November 2022.

Federal agencies use multiple definitions of rural depending on specific program requirements, and individual states often develop their own definitions specific to their geographies and populations.

The CT-ORH defines a Connecticut town as rural if it satisfies two conditions: the total population of the town is 10,000 residents or fewer and has a population density less than 500 people per square mile. The CT-ORH also recognizes the definition set by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). There are 68 towns that meet the state's criteria for a rural designation. In addition, the CT-ORH definition includes towns that contain a census tract designated as rural by HRSA as of 2020, adding 9 additional towns. This combined definition consists of 77 towns statewide, and which are listed below by county.

HRSA's rural definition combines several measures of rurality from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Office of Management and Budget, and its own Rural-Urban Commuting Area regions to generate its definition of rural for the purpose of grants and programs. Per the HRSA definition (see the HRSA website for specific contributing factors), the following areas are considered rural: All of Litchfield County, the town of Windham, Census tract 8502 in Coventry, and Census tract 8815 in Mansfield. In towns where HRSA has a designated rural census tract, the entire town is included for the purposes of the CT-ORH rural definition.

Readers are advised to check the HRSA website for the most up-to-date definitions, or to check if their area is covered under HRSA's rural definition for federal grant eligibility, by checking the Am I Rural Tool on the Rural Health Information (RHIhub) website.

Below is a list of CT rural towns by county:

County		Town

Litchfield		All towns in Litchfield County are considered rural: Barkhamsted, Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Canaan, Colebrook, Cornwall, Goshen, Harwinton, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Hartford, New Milford, Norfolk, North Canaan, Plymouth, Roxbury, Salisbury, Sharon, Thomaston, Torrington, Warren, Washington, Watertown, Winchester and Woodbury.

Windham		Ashford, Brooklyn, Canterbury, Chaplin, Eastford, Hampton, Pomfret, Putnam, Scotland, Sterling, Thompson, Windham and Woodstock.

Fairfield		Easton, Redding, Sherman

Hartford		Burlington, East Granby, Hartland, Marlborough

Middlesex		Chester, Deep River, Durham, East Haddam, Haddam, Killingworth, Middlefield, Portland, Westbrook

New Haven		Bethany, Middlebury, Woodbridge

New London		Bozrah, Franklin, Lebanon, Lisbon, Lyme, North Stonington, Old Lyme, Preston, Salem, Sprague, Voluntown

Tolland		Andover, Bolton, Columbia, Coventry, Hebron, Mansfield, Union, Willington

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