Urban areas

The social environment: Urban environments are more likely to see higher rates of crime and violence.

The physical environment: In densely populated urban areas, there is often a lack of facilities and outdoor areas for exercise. In addition, air quality is often lower in urban environments which can contribute to chronic diseases such as asthma. In the developing world, urban dwellers often live in large slums which lack basic sanitation and utilities such as water and electricity.

Access to health and social service: Persons of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to live in urban areas and are more likely to lack health insurance. The high prevalence of individuals without health insurance or citizenship creates a greater burden on available systems.

Rural areas

The social environment: Rural dwellers have significantly poorer health status than urban elders. Also, rural residents smoke more, exercise less, have less nutritional diets.

The physical environment: Rural women especially less educated women, are more sedentary than urban women. While poor air quality and crime rates are likely to be less of an issue in rural areas, insufficiencies in the built environment make it difficult for rural residents to exercise and maintain healthy habits.

Access to health and social service: Evidence indicates that rural residents have limited access to health care. Some rural areas have a higher proportion of uninsured and individually insured residents than urban areas.