by J.D. Davidson
Four of Ohio’s 32 Appalachian counties are considered distressed in fiscal year 2025, the same as the previous year. However, the number of at-risk counties fell by one.
A distressed county is among the 10 percent most economically distressed in the nation, as determined by the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Mahoning County, considered at risk in 2024, is now considered a transitional county.
The commission designates the best counties in the 32-county region as attainment counties, followed by competitive, transitional, at-risk and distressed counties. The ARC factors in a three-year unemployment rate, per capita market income, and poverty rate.
The Ohio counties considered distressed are Noble, Meigs, Vinton and Scioto. At-risk counties include Coshocton, Harrison, Jefferson, Guernsey, Monroe, Morgan, Athens, Jackson, Gallia, Pike, Adams and Lawrence.
The commission considers a county at-risk if it ranks between the worst 10 percent and 25 percent of the nation’s counties.
Only Holmes and Clermont were considered competitive. No county received an attainment designation. Competitive counties can compete in the national economy but are not in the top 10 percent of the nation’s counties.
The commission’s recent annual data update and community survey shows that poverty rates have declined in every Appalachian subregion, state, and rural and urban county. Also, the median family income increased nearly 10 percent.
In February, the state announced it was funneling $85 million of federal taxpayer money into the region for K-12 school districts, joint vocational school districts, regional councils of government or other political subdivisions to develop new community innovation centers to help with education, behavioral health care and jobs.
The qualify, new construction, renovation, or facility expansion must support public education, deliver physical or behavioral health care services onside to students and the public, and provide community access to job-related programming.
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An Ohio native, J.D. Davidson is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years of experience in newspapers in Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. He has served as a reporter, editor, managing editor and publisher. Davidson is a regional editor for The Center Square.
Photo “Piedmont, Ohio” by Mike. CC BY-ND 2.0.
