Everyone plays a part in Appalachia’s economic growth. To help policymakers and other ARC partners make more informed and effective development decisions, we share data, maps, and research on key economic, demographic, and quality of life factors impacting the Region, as well as evaluations of our grants’ impact. Our team of researchers, evaluators, mapping specialists, and economists tracks trends to help everyone better address the Region’s challenges.
Research Reports
Research reports address critical socioeconomic issues impacting the Appalachian Region. ARC’s research is meant to help policymakers and our partners better understand Appalachia’s challenges and make more informed, effective decisions to address them.
The Chartbook
The Appalachian Region: A Data Overview from the 2017-2021 American Community Survey, also known as “The Chartbook,” draws from the most recent American Community Survey and comparable Census Population Estimates. The report contains over 300,000 data points about Appalachia’s demographics, income, and employment, as well as education, computer access, housing, and more—all presented at regional, subregional, state, and county levels.
Evaluations
Typically conducted by external contractors, evaluations help ARC learn about the experiences of grantees or other ARC beneficiaries, and the impact of ARC grants and programming. Through evaluations, ARC regularly monitors and makes improvements to our work.
Maps
ARC generates county-level maps to graphically display potential geographic patterns and spatial correlations in the data of various socioeconomic topics. These visual representations of the data reveal hidden patterns and conditions that may lead to further analysis, research, and regional policy development.
Data Report Tool
ARC’s Data Report Tool uses publicly available data to generate reports for every Appalachian state and county across six topics. Each report also compares this data about the Appalachian Region with national averages.
Fact Sheets and Infographics
ARC uses research and data to create fact sheets, infographics, and other visuals for our partners.
Requests for Proposals
ARC often issues Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for qualified, outside firms to undertake valuable research and evaluation initiatives.