The Appalachian Regional Commission has released its Fiscal Year 2025 economic status designations. ARC released the latest designations on June 27. The designations use an indexbased economic classification system to monitor the economic status of Appalachia's 423 counties, which include Webster. Designations help ARC determine grant match rates, identify research topics and direct investments to the region's most distressed communities. The system involves the creation of a national index of county economic status through a comparison of each county’s averages for three economic indicators — three-year average unemployment rate, per-capita market income and poverty rate — with national averages. The resulting values are summed and averaged to create a composite index value for each county. Each county in the nation is then ranked, based on its composite index value, with higher values indicating higher levels of distress. Each Appalachian county is classified into one of five economic status designations, based on its position in the national ranking: distressed, at-risk, transitional, competitive or attainment, which are the economically strongest counties. Webster County In FY 2025, 77 counties are designated as distressed, 103 as atrisk, 226 as transitional, 14 as competitive and three have reached attainment. Webster County is designated as a transitional county in the upcoming fiscal year. The maximum ARC share for projects funded in transitional counties is 50%. This is an improvement from the at-risk designation the county has had the two previous years. Transitional counties are those transitioning between strong and weak economies, according to ARC. They make up the largest economic status designation. Transitional counties rank between the worst 25% and the best 25% of the nation’s counties. Webster again has one distressed area in FY 2025, which is in the south-central part of the county bordering Choctaw. Distressed areas (census tracts) are designated only in at-risk and transitional counties. The designation is assigned to areas that have a median family income no greater than 67% of the U.S. average and a poverty rate 150% of the U.S. average or greater. ARC provided this data regarding the county’s economic status: • Three-year average unemployment rate (2020-22): 5.5% • Per-capita market income, 2022: $28,214 • Poverty rate 2018- 22: 15.5% • Quartile (1 is the best) FY 2025: 3 Source: arc.gov
