Russell County is classified as at-risk by the Appalachian Regional Commission for fiscal year 2025, according to a new report from the organization.
That’s an improvement from last year, when Russell County was classified as distressed by the commission.
Every year, ARC applies an index-based classification system to compare each county in the Region with national averages to understand how counties are performing.
ARC looks at unemployment rates, poverty rates, and per capita market income to provide one of five designations – distressed, at-risk, transitional, competitive, or attainment.
Russell County’s three-year unemployment rate was 6 percent compared to 6.3 percent the year prior. Russell County also saw an increase in per capita market income by about $8,000 and the poverty rate dropped to 21.6 percent from 23 percent last year.
Looking at the region, Adair, Pulaski and Clinton counties were also designated at-risk, while Casey, Cumberland, and Wayne were designated as distressed.
The northern area of Russell County was labeled as distressed area by ARC.
