According to Re. Ike Skelton (D-MO), 47 % of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan and 44% of those killed in Iraq come from “small town and rural America.”
I’m not sure how that area is defined for this statistic, but undoubtedly it’s paying a disproportionate price in the military campaigns.
I’m no expert. But have you considered that the USA is a very big country and that most people in it are from small town or rural areas.