PRB

Rural America faces unique challenges to economic development, digital access, education, and health care. Thirty percent of the nation’s counties—and more than 25% of Appalachian counties— are considered rural (Figure 1).¹ And while rural communities throughout the nation face more socioeconomic disadvantage than their urban and suburban counterparts, a new report from the Appalachian Regional Commission and PRB reveals that Appalachia’s rural communities are particularly vulnerable.

Figure 1. More than 1 in 4 American counties are rural

Rural Counties in the United States and the Appalachian Region

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, 2013 Urban Influence Codes condensed by ARC.

The report, The Appalachian Region: A Data Overview From the 2018-2022 American Community Survey, contains more than 300,000 data points comparing Appalachia’s regional, subregional, state, and county economic status with the rest of the nation. Here, we feature three key challenges and three bright spots for the region’s rural communities.

Challenges

1. Rural Appalachian communities face more unemployment—and lower incomes—than other rural communities. The average unemployment rate in rural Appalachian counties was 5%, compared with 4% in rural counties outside the region. At the same time, the median annual household income in rural Appalachian counties ($48,879) was more than $10,000 less than in the rest of rural America ($59,550), and the share of residents living in poverty (19.5%) was 30% higher (14.9%). Nearly 1 of every 5 of the region’s rural counties was considered economically distressed or at-risk.²
2. Disability rates are higher among residents of rural Appalachia, especially for those ages 35 to 64. The share of residents with disabilities in rural Appalachian counties (20%) was nearly 4 percentage points higher than in the rest of the nation’s rural counties (16.3%). And among adults ages 35 to 64, more than 1 in 5 had at least one disability—nearly 6 percentage points higher than in the rest of rural America (22.5% compared with 16.6%).
3. Educational attainment lags in rural Appalachia. Across all levels of educational attainment, the region’s rural counties lag behind the rest of rural America. The share of people with at least a high school diploma was 3.7 percentage points less than in non-Appalachian rural counties (85.7% compared with 89.4%), while the share at least a bachelor’s degree was 4.6 percentage points lower (19% compared with 23.6%). And STEM is underrepresented: Just 26.1% of degree holders in rural Appalachia have a STEM degree, compared with 31.1% in the rest of rural America. Limited access to digital resources such as high-speed internet and computer devices may hinder access to educational opportunities in the Appalachian Region.

Bright Spots

1. Rural Appalachians are more likely to have health insurance than other rural Americans. Less than 9% of rural Appalachian residents did not have health insurance coverage, compared to 10% of residents of rural counties outside of Appalachia. Within Appalachia, rural counties saw more improvement in health insurance coverage than metropolitan and metropolitan-adjacent counties between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022, when the share of rural Appalachians without insurance fell by 2.1 percentage points.³
2. Within Appalachia, rural counties saw the largest declines in poverty. While rural Appalachia still faces more economic disadvantage than the rest of rural America, there are signs of progress in the region, including against poverty. Between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022, the region’s rural counties saw a larger decrease (2.4 percentage points) in the share of residents living in poverty compared with large and small metropolitan counties and counties adjacent to small metros.⁴ In addition, the share of children living in poverty in the region’s rural counties fell by 4.5 percentage points.⁵
3. Educational attainment improved more notably in rural Appalachia than the rest of the region. Despite lagging behind other rural counties, rural Appalachian counties are seeing gains in education. From 2013-2017 to 2018-2022, the share of residents in rural Appalachian counties with at least a high school diploma increased by 3.5 percentage points, outpacing gains in other counties in the region. While this improvement was largely driven by increases in high school and associate’s degrees, a larger share of rural Appalachians also received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 2018-2022 compared with 2013-2017.

Learn more about the Appalachian Region’s demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.