Residents of rural communities nationwide are more likely to live off of Social Security disability than those who live in urban communities like Detroit or other big cities in Michigan, according to a recently published report.

A comparison of data used in the report shows that per capita, more people receive disability benefits in areas that have relied on farming or mining and where medical care has been difficult to access.

In the rural areas outside one major city, 12.5 percent of people of working age collect Social Security disability. Contrast that to the city itself, where only five percent of the population receives the checks.

The figures were analyzed through data collected by the Center for Rural Strategies and a researcher at Mississippi State University.

Rural portions of Alabama, the Appalachians and Arkansas appear to have the highest rates. Higher still was Buchanan County, Virginia, where 27 percent of its residents of working age relied on disability benefits in 2009.

Nationally that year, 4.6 percent of non-elderly Americans collected disability, almost twice the amount of 25 years ago.

The higher rates show up in counties that once thrived on jobs that had to do with farming or natural resources, such as mining or forestry, according to the Center for Rural Strategies. When those industries disappear, workers face low-wage jobs, poverty, a lack of education, no medical insurance and limited access to health care.

The National Bureau of Economic Research said many of the Americans receiving Social Security disability struggle with mental issues and pain. It is important information to consider when lawmakers talk about cutting benefits without realizing how it would hurt the people who need help the most.

Source: The Kansas City Star, "Rural communities have strongest reliance on disability benefits," Rick Montgomery, Jan. 29, 2012