The North Carolina Department of Commerce has released the economic development tier rankings for 2018, and three counties in eastern North Carolina will be changing their designation in the New Year.
The rankings are based on an assessment of each county’s unemployment rate, median household income, population growth and assessed property value per capita. N.C. Commerce assigns all 100 counties a tier designation raking from one to three: Tier 1 counties are generally the most economically depressed while Tier 3 counties are the least economically depressed. A total of six counties in North Carolina will change their designations in 2018, half of which are in eastern North Carolina. Beaufort County will move from a Tier 1 to Tier 2 ranking. Conversely, Lenoir and Perquimans Counties will fall from Tier 2 to a Tier 1. The designations are mandated by state law and determine eligibility for grant programs from N.C. Commerce such as reuse, water and sewer infrastructure and the downtown revitalization Main Street program. For PRE, I’m Jared Brumbaugh.
