According to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, in each state, there was at least one county with a median annual household income more than $7,000 lower than the state’s median income.
In many of these counties, residents struggled with low educational attainment and limited job opportunities. In five years through 2013, the percentage of adults who had attained at least a bachelor’s degree was below the comparable national figure of 28.8% in 45 of the 50 counties.
In Tennessee the poorest county is Grundy County. A typical household in Grundy County earned less than $27,000 annually between 2009 and 2013. This was especially poor even in Tennessee, where statewide incomes tended to be among the lowest in the nation. Low educational attainment rates partly explain the low incomes. Only 10% of Grundy adults had at least a bachelor’s degree, and just 70.5% had completed at least high school, both among the lower rates reviewed.
> County median household income, 2009-2013: $26,814
> State median household income, 2009-2013: $44,298
> Poverty rate, 2009-2013: 29.7%
> Unemployment, 2013: 9.5%
Grundy Is Tennessee’s Poorest County
