Tennessee is seeing a historic low in economically distressed counties, with only eight in the state hitting the threshold for distressed compared to 15 in 2019.
Three of those are in East Tennessee, Scott, Hancock and Cocke County.
Scott County is seeing a per Capita Market Income just under $19,000, Hancock is just under $17,000 and Cocke is just under $21,000. Their poverty rates are around 22, 31 and 21% respectively. Unemployment is in the 6% range for these counties.
The state-wide improvement comes after the state has invested in aspects like education, infrastructure and workforce developments according to the Governor’s Office.
For a list of each county’s results, please go to https://www.tn.gov/transparenttn/state-financial-overview/open-ecd/openecd/tnecd-performance-metrics/openecd-long-term-objectives-quick-stats/distressed-counties.html
