Kurt Ullman wrote:
I am working on an article looking at rural physicians. How rural is
Tyler, Denton and McKinney compared to say, Pocotello ID, or Casper
WY? Are they really at least semi-rural or are they really just
suburbs of a big city. I am looking for at least an hour or two drive
to a big medical center.

Neither semi-rural nor suburbs of a big city. They are cities unto
themselves. Each has a population greater than 100,000, which is twice the
population of Pocotello or Casper.

Tyler, with a population approaching 100,000 is not what I'd call "rural,"
and it's not a suburb of anything. The closest larger city is Dallas, about
100 miles east.

Likewise Denton, with a population greater than 100,000 could not really be
called "rural." It's closer to Dallas than Tyler, about 40 miles northeast.

McKinney is about 30 miles north of Dallas and has a population of about
130,000. Again, not in my estimation a "rural" town.

Texas has 254 counties (a couple larger than some states) and you can find
lots of "rural" towns amongst them. Consider Dime Box, or Pflugerville,
Chicken Switch, Floating Stick, Little Rabbit, or Left Elbow. (I may have
miss-remembered some...)