The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a United States federal–state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life. Congress established ARC to bring the region into socioeconomic parity with the rest of the nation.
The Appalachian Region, as defined by Congress, includes all of West Virginia and portions of 12 other states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. ARC serves 423 counties and 8 independent cities that encompass roughly , with a population of more than 25 million people.
The Appalachian Regional Commission has 14 members: the governors of the 13 Appalachian states and a federal co-chair, who is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. A professional staff carries out the work of the commission.
The current federal co-chair is Gayle Conelly Manchin. Manchin was appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate on April 29, 2021, by voice vote. The 2024 states' co-chair is Tennessee governor Bill Lee. Grassroots participation is provided through 73 local development districts, which are multi-county organizations with boards made up of elected officials, business people, and other local leaders. The ARC is a planning, research, advocacy, and funding organization. It does not have any governing power within the region.
Geography and sociology The ARC's geographic range of coverage was defined by Congress broadly, in order to cover as many economically underdeveloped areas as possible; as a result, it extends beyond the geographic area usually thought of as "Appalachia." While Congress did aim to define Appalachia, the ultimate purpose and concern of the ARC is economic development rather than cultural definition.
ARC boundaries versus cultural boundaries A study conducted in 1981 comparing the perceptions of Appalachia's boundaries and the ARC's definition, published in the academic journal Southeastern Geographer, asked respondents to draw an encircled area identifying what they considered to be Appalachia on a map. The study found less than 20% of respondents agreed that southern New York was part of Appalachia, as designated by the ARC, and that less than 10% of respondents agreed with the ARC's inclusion of northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama in Appalachia. Respondents residing outside of Appalachia were more likely to define the region broadly, in agreement with the ARC, and respondents from within the region were more likely to define it restrictively. The majority of responses defined Appalachia as an area encircling the locations possessing the highest amount of negative characteristics that the ARC was created to combat—flooding, environmental degradation, poverty, and geographic isolation, among others.
Socioeconomic characteristics of ARC boundaries The ARC does not precisely correspond to what is considered Appalachia by the general public. For instance, parts of Mississippi were included in the commission because of similar problems with unemployment and poverty. In 2008, the Youngstown, Ohio region was declared part of Appalachia by the ARC due to the collapse of the steel industry in the region in the early 1980s, and the continuing unemployment problems in the region since. Additionally, certain regions generally considered to be part of Appalachia, such as most of Virginia's portion of the Shenandoah Valley, are not included in the ARC's charter.
The inclusion of northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama in the ARC's charter was additionally in part based on an altered Rand McNally map submitted to Congress and the governor of Mississippi at the suggestion of local developer George Thompson Pound, depicting mountains in the two states that did not exist. However, northeastern Alabama does contain mountains and foothills that extend as far south as the Pinhoti Trail, which indirectly connects to the Appalachian Trail.
The journal Southern Cultures explained the inclusion of northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama as having been done for two main reasons—to undermine the direct funding of Black communities in the affected areas in favor of preserving white supremacy, and to engage in historical negationism, made possible due to the method which the ARC used to fund communities within its charter. An area home to a large number of Black Americans with an extensive history was effectively forced into a region known for its predominantly white culture and lack of slavery within American history, in spite of the protest of Black residents. As part of the scheme, attractions were to be built in the area with ARC funds celebrating the history of white settlers, with no attention paid towards the native Chickasaws who had once inhabited the region or the current Black residents.
Funding and development directed to the region after the establishment of the ARC largely eschewed Black residents and communities as a result of the efforts of Pound and Southern Democrats, and was instead directly sent to local ruling whites. In the early 2020s, few residents of northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama were aware they are a part of what Congress has designated as Appalachia, and do not consider themselves to be Appalachian.
County economic classifications The ARC uses an index-based system to classify counties based on economic status, with five categories: distressed, at-risk, transitional, competitive, and attainment. In addition to county classifications, the ARC additionally classifies specific census tracts within non-distressed counties as distressed if they meet the standards of economic distress set by the ARC. The category at-risk was introduced on ARC maps in 2006; before then only the four other categories were used.
The ARC uses several indicators to designate an area as distressed, including median family income and the local poverty rate. Additional factors that go into determining a county's status are the three-year average unemployment rate and per capital market income. +Criteria for ARC economic classificationEconomic classificationDescription Counties designated as distressed are the most economically depressed of counties within the ARC. They are extremely below average, ranking in the bottom 10% of counties in the United States. At-riskCounties designated as at-risk have a high chance of falling into the category of distressed. They are well below average, ranking in the bottom 10-25% of counties in the United States. TransitionalCounties designated as transitional are economically below average, average, or above average, and may be moving from a weak to a strong economy or vice versa. They consist of most counties within the ARC and make up the bottom 25% and top 25% of counties in the United States. CompetitiveCounties designated as competitive are well above average and are able to compete in the national economy, attracting business. Economic conditions may be good, but they do not rank within the top 10% of counties in the United States. Counties designated as attainment are the economically strongest counties in the ARC and in the nation. They are very above average and rank in the top 10% of counties in the United States. +States in the ARC by amount of counties with economic classification as of FY 2024By percent of total ARC countiesBy numbersARC stateAlabama05.41%81.08%86.49%16.22%72.97%02.70%02.70%Georgia05.41%59.46%86.49%10.81%70.27%08.11%05.41%Kentucky66.67%27.77%94.44%27.77%05.56%0%0%Maryland0%66.67%66.67%00.00%100%0%0%Mississippi37.50%45.83%83.33%41.67%20.83%0%0%New York0%71.43%71.43%21.43%78.57%0%0%North Carolina0%67.74%67.74%19.35%80.65%0%0%Ohio12.50%71.88%84.38%46.88%34.38%06.25%0%Pennsylvania01.92%59.62%61.54%03.85%90.38%03.85%0%South Carolina14.29%71.43%85.71%14.29%57.14%14.29%0%Tennessee09.62%76.92%86.54%36.54%51.92%01.92%0%Virginia15.15%54.55%69.70%33.33%48.48%0%03.03%West Virginia32.73%43.64%76.36%21.82%43.64%01.82%0%% of all counties19.26%58.47%86.54%24.13%51.13%02.55%00.93%ARC stateAlabama230173326271137Georgia22271324263237Kentucky361550511530054Maryland0212203003Mississippi91126201050024New York01040103110014North Carolina02184216250031Ohio4231052715112032Pennsylvania131196322472052South Carolina1536614107Tennessee5401284519271052Virginia518282311160133West Virginia1824804212241055Total832521,029373104229114431
ARC subregions In order to better facilitate subregional analysis and in recognition of the differences between various areas in Appalachia, the ARC splits their service area into different regions—Northern, North Central, Central, South Central, and Southern. The ARC's definitions take into account political boundaries, physical geography, demographics, economic activity, and transportation activity.
Previously, the ARC's subregions only consisted of Northern, Central, and Southern. These classifications were revised in 2009 in order to make subregional analysis more specific. As part of this process, in 2005, several new subregion schemes were proposed. Notably, two proposals involved the categorization of the ARC's service area into areas that were distinctly labeled as being part of Appalachia or separate from it, which had addressed the fact that not all of the area the ARC serves is Appalachian.