This study examines state- and county-level data for the 13 Appalachian states from the 2020-2024 American Community Survey (ACS) and from U.S. Census Bureau population estimates on topics including population, age, housing occupancy and tenure, education, labor force, employment and unemployment, income and poverty, health insurance coverage, disability status, migration patterns, and veteran status. Additionally, data are provided on types of housing units, homeownership, types of living arrangements, travel time to work and location of work, and income-to-poverty ratio. Information is summarized for five Appalachian subregions and five metro designations. The report also compares data from two recent non-overlapping time periods, allowing the study of trends. Lastly, the characteristics of Appalachia’s 108 rural counties are compared to those of rural counties located in the rest of the country.
For the first time, this report covers analysis of the Appalachian counties according to their designation in ARC’s County Economic Status Classification System. This new appendix compares distressed, at-risk, transitional, competitive, and attainment counties in the Appalachian Region to regional and national estimates on selected demographic and socioeconomic measures. In addition, the metropolitan county typology codes were updated using the 2024 Urban Influence Codes from USDA’s Economic Research Service.
The data contained in the 2020-2024 Chartbook describe how residents in the Appalachian Region were faring after the COVID-19 pandemic that began in March 2020 and was declared over in May 2023. Thus, the entirety of the pandemic is included in this Chartbook release, as well as the first year following it. Future data releases will reflect more of the post-pandemic era, allowing data users insights into pandemic recovery and its effects on Appalachia’s social and economic dynamics.