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Appalachian Regional Commission
County Economic Status Designations in the Appalachian Region, Fiscal Year 2006
Introduction
ARC uses a county economic classification system to target counties in need of special economic assistance. The system classifies counties into five economic status designations—distressed, at-risk, transitional, competitive, and attainment—based on a comparison of county and national averages for three economic indicators: three-year average unemployment rate, per capita market income, and poverty rate. Each fiscal year, using the most current data available, ARC determines each Appalachian county's economic status designation based on thresholds established for each level. The county's designation is then used in the distribution of funds for the fiscal year. The FY 2006 economic status designations for Appalachian counties are presented in this report. A description of each economic level is provided in Table 1 and in the text below.
Table 1: Appalachian Regional Commission County Economic Status Classification System, FY 2006
| County Economic Level |
County Economic Indicator Thresholds |
Alternate Criteria |
| Three-Year Average Unemployment Rate |
Per Capita Market Income |
Poverty Rate |
| |
| Distressed |
150% or more of U.S. average |
67% or less of U.S. average |
150% or more of U.S. average |
At least twice the U.S. poverty rate and meets the threshold of one other distressed-level indicator. |
| At-Risk |
125% or more of U.S. average |
67% or less of U.S. average |
125% or more of U.S. average |
Meets the threshold of two of the three distressed-level indicators. |
Transitional |
All counties that are worse than the national average for one or more indicator but do not meet the criteria for the distressed or at-risk levels. |
| Competitive |
100% or less of U.S. average |
80% or more of U.S. average |
100% or less of U.S. average |
|
| Attainment |
100% or less of U.S. average |
100% or more of U.S. average |
100% or less of U.S. average |
|
County Economic Levels
Distressed
Distressed counties are the most economically depressed counties. These counties have three-year average unemployment rates at least 1.5 times the national average, per capita market income no greater than two-thirds of the national average, and poverty rates at least 1.5 times the national average; OR they have at least twice the national poverty rate and meet the criteria for either the unemployment or the income indicator.
At-Risk
At-risk counties are counties at risk of becoming economically distressed. These counties have three-year average unemployment rates at least 1.25 times the national average, per capita market income no greater than two-thirds of the national average, and poverty rates at least 1.25 times the national average; OR they meet the criteria for two of the three distressed-level indicators. This economic level was adopted in fiscal year 2006 for the purpose of monitoring economic change and planning for investments in potentially distressed counties.
Transitional
Transitional counties have rates worse than the national average for one or more of the three economic indicators (three-year average unemployment, per capita market income, and poverty) but do not meet the criteria for the distressed or at-risk levels.
Competitive
Competitive counties have three-year average unemployment rates and poverty rates equal to or better than the national average, and per capita market income equal to or greater than 80 percent, but less than 100 percent, of the national average.
Attainment
Attainment counties have economic indicators (three-year average unemployment, per capita market income, and poverty) equal to or better than the national averages.
Counties in each Economic Level
Below is list of the counties in each economic level for FY 2006. Summary counts for each state and for the Region as a whole are provided in Table 2. For the detailed economic indicator data used to determine each county's designation, see Appendix 1. Map 1 shows the geographic distribution of the county economic designations.
Distressed
There are 77 counties in the Appalachian Region designated as distressed in FY 2006:
Alabama (5) - Bibb, Franklin, Hale, Macon, and Pickens
Kentucky (32) - Bell, Breathitt, Carter, Casey, Clay, Clinton, Elliott, Estill, Floyd, Harlan, Jackson, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Magoffin, Martin, McCreary, Menifee, Monroe, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Powell, Russell, Wayne, Whitley, and Wolfe
Mississippi (13) - Benton, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Kemper, Marshall, Montgomery, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Webster, Winston, and Yalobusha
North Carolina (1) – Graham
Ohio (4) - Athens, Meigs, Pike, and Vinton
Tennessee (6) - Clay, Fentress, Grundy, Hancock, Johnson, and Scott
Virginia (1) - Dickenson
West Virginia (15) - Barbour, Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer, Lincoln, Mason, McDowell, Mingo, Ritchie, Roane, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, and Wyoming
At-Risk
There are 81 counties in the Appalachian Region designated as at-risk in FY 2006:
Alabama (12) - Chambers, Colbert, Coosa, Fayette, Jackson, Lamar, Marion, Randolph, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Walker, and Winston
Kentucky (12) - Adair, Bath, Cumberland, Edmonson, Fleming, Hart, Laurel, Lincoln, Pike, Pulaski, Rockcastle, and Rowan
Mississippi (6) - Alcorn, Calhoun, Lowndes, Monroe, Tippah, and Tishomingo
North Carolina (6) - Cherokee, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford, Swain, and Yancey
Ohio (6) - Adams, Jackson, Lawrence, Morgan, Perry, and Scioto
Pennsylvania (5) - Cameron, Clearfield, Fayette, Forest, and Huntingdon
South Carolina (1) - Cherokee
Tennessee (10) - Bledsoe, Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Jackson, Meigs, Morgan, Pickett, and Union
Virginia (7) - Buchanan, Carroll (including the city of Galax), Grayson, Lee, Montgomery (including the city of Radford), Smyth, and Wise (including the city of Norton
West Virginia (16) - Boone, Doddridge, Fayette, Grant, Greenbrier, Lewis, Logan, Mercer, Nicholas, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Summers, Taylor, Tucker, Upshur, and Wayne
Transitional
There are 222 counties in the Appalachian Region designated as transitional in FY 2006:
Alabama (18) - Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Cullman, De Kalb, Elmore, Etowah, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Marshall, Morgan, St. Clair, and Tuscaloosa
Georgia (29) - Banks, Barrow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Elbert, Fannin, Floyd, Franklin, Gilmer, Gordon, Habersham, Hall, Haralson, Hart, Heard, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Murray, Paulding, Polk, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union, Walker, and White
Kentucky (7) - Boyd, Clark, Garrard, Green, Greenup, Madison, and Montgomery
Maryland (2) - Allegany and Garrett
Mississippi (5) - Itawamba, Lee, Pontotoc, Prentiss, and Union
New York (14) - Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Schoharie, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins
North Carolina (17) - Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Clay, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Stokes, Surry, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yadkin
Ohio (18) - Belmont, Brown, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Jefferson, Monroe, Muskingum, Noble, Ross, Tuscarawas, and Washington
Pennsylvania (41) - Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Bradford, Cambria, Carbon, Centre, Clarion, Clinton, Columbia, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lawrence, Luzerne, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Mifflin, Monroe, Northumberland, Potter, Schuylkill, Snyder, Somerset, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Venango, Warren, Washington, Wayne, and Wyoming
South Carolina (4) - Anderson, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg
Tennessee (32) - Anderson, Blount, Cannon, Carter, Coffee, Cumberland, De Kalb, Franklin, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Macon, Marion, McMinn, Monroe, Overton, Polk, Putnam, Rhea, Roane, Sequatchie, Sevier, Smith, Sullivan, Unicoi, Van Buren, Warren, Washington, and White
Virginia (13) - Alleghany (including the cities of Clifton Forge and Covington), Bland, Craig, Floyd, Giles, Highland, Pulaski, Rockbridge (including the cities of Buena Vista and Lexington), Russell, Scott, Tazewell, Washington (including the city of Bristol), and Wythe
West Virginia (22) - Berkeley, Brooke, Cabell, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Kanawha, Marion, Marshall, Mineral, Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan, Ohio, Pendleton, Preston, Raleigh, Randolph, Tyler, and Wood
Competitive
There are 22 counties in the Appalachian Region designated as competitive in FY 2006:
Georgia (5) - Bartow, Dawson, Douglas, Pickens, and Whitfield
Maryland (1) - Washington
North Carolina (4) - Buncombe, Davie, Henderson, and Polk
Ohio (1) - Clermont
Pennsylvania (5) - Butler, Montour, Perry, Pike, and Westmoreland
South Carolina (1) - Greenville
Tennessee (2) - Bradley and Hamilton
Virginia (1) - Bath
West Virginia (2) - Jefferson and Putnam
Attainment
There are 8 counties in the Appalachian Region designated as attainment in FY 2006:
Alabama (2) - Madison and Shelby
Georgia (3) - Cherokee, Forsyth, and Gwinnett
North Carolina (1) - Forsyth
Pennsylvania (1) - Allegheny
Virginia (1) – Botetourt
Table 2: Number of Counties per Economic Level in FY 2006, by State
| State |
Distressed |
At-Risk |
Transitional |
Competitive |
Attainment |
Total |
| Alabama |
5 |
12 |
18 |
0 |
2 |
37 |
| Georgia |
0 |
0 |
29 |
5 |
3 |
37 |
| Kentucky |
32 |
12 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
51 |
| Maryland |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| Mississippi |
13 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
24 |
| New York |
0 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
| North Carolina |
1 |
6 |
17 |
4 |
1 |
29 |
| Ohio |
4 |
6 |
18 |
1 |
0 |
29 |
| Pennsylvania |
0 |
5 |
41 |
5 |
1 |
52 |
| South Carolina |
0 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
| Tennessee |
6 |
10 |
32 |
2 |
0 |
50 |
| Virginia |
1 |
7 |
13 |
1 |
1 |
23 |
| West Virginia |
15 |
16 |
22 |
2 |
0 |
55 |
| Total |
77 |
81 |
222 |
22 |
8 |
410 |
Additional Materials
Appendix 1: County Economic Status in the Appalachian Region, FY 2006
PDF file (40 KB) | Excel file (69 KB)
County Economic Status by State, FY 2006
PDF file (61 KB) | Excel file (103 KB)
Criteria for County Economic Levels, FY 2006
PDF file (21 KB) | Excel file (20 KB)
Map 1: County Economic Status in Appalachia, FY 2006 (PDF file—612 KB)
A complete copy of this information is available in PDF format (622 KB).
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