Rural America's working-age adults die at wildly higher rates than their counterparts in cities. Why?

[ms liberty]

24. I live in furniture making country in rural NC

A lot of America's furniture is made here, within a 75 mile radius of my house. It's really difficult physical labor, and people end up wore out and old before their time. Upholsterers by about age 50 have knarled hands with swollen joints, same with any of the spring up and frame assembly people. Finishing work on the exposed woods has the problem of lung and breathing issues due to the stains, paints, and the inevitable sanding. Sewers aren't left out either, the repetitive motion of sewing is terrible for the hands and arms, as well as the pulling and tugging needed to feed heavy upholstery fabrics through the machines.
We have other manufacturing here too ( most all the duct tape sold during the COVID craze was manufactured not 20 miles from my house), and all of the industries have their own issues, but the bottom line is that a lot of the work, probably most, is factory and physical. It can be decent money - if you're good at your job - but it requires hard work on production pay...meaning you get paid per piece. Much of the rural south lives in those kind of jobs.
Then add to that the fact of being 20 miles or more from a hospital in an area where it might take an ambulance 15 minutes to get to your house, and take them another 25 to get you to the hospital and you end up with what we've got now.