The North Carolina State Department of Commerce has released its 2025 economic development tier designations. The designations, which are categorized in a three-level tier system, are mandated by state law and have been in place since 2007. The tiers are designed to indicate county-level economic well-being and determine opportunities for state funding to promote economic growth.

The department noted that these updates do not “well capture” the impacts of Hurricane Helene on counties in western North Carolina. There are several factors that go into calculating which county tier designation. The only factor that takes into account the impacts of Helene is the unemployment rate in the counties because the department was able to use data from November 2023 through October 2024, capturing some of the impact left in Helene’s wake.

While the department does the calculations for the designations, it should be noted that they are not the institution responsible for setting the policy for the tiers. That is a responsibility of the state legislature.

The 2025 updates show that nine counties will move from a lower tier, which indicates more economic distress, to a higher tier, which indicates less economic distress. These counties include Cherokee, Chowan, Duplin, Gates, Jones, Onslow, and Pasquotank moving from Tier One to Tier Two. Granville and Haywood are moving from Tier 2 to Tier 3.

There are an additional nine counties moving from a higher tier (less economic distress) to a lower tier (more economic distress). These counties include Alexander, Caldwell, Cleveland, McDowell, Montgomery, Randolph, and Surry, which are moving from Tier 2 to Tier 1. Camden and Davie counties are moving from Tier 3 to Tier 2.

Tier formula explained

You’re probably wondering how these tiers are calculated. The formula that results in the tier designation has several factors. These factors include adjusted property tax base per capita, population growth, median household income, and monthly average unemployment rate. 

The data used for the calculations included the adjusted property tax base per capita from 2024-2025, population growth from July 2020 to July 2023, median household income from 2022, and unemployment rate monthly averages from November 2023 to October 2024.

The department gives each county a ranking for each factor. For adjusted property tax base per capita, population growth, and median household income, the lowest score is 1 and the highest score is 100. For the monthly average unemployment rate, the highest score is 1 and the lowest score is 100.

The rank score for each of these four factors is then added together to generate a county rank sum which indicates the county economic distress rank. The counties are then put in order by their county rank sum and given a tier designation based on that order.

Tier 1 counties have an economic distress rank of 1-40 (most economically distressed).

Tier 2 counties have an economic distress rank of 41-80 (more economically distressed).

Tier 3 counties have an economic distress rank of 81-100 (least economically distressed).

Details by county

In 2025, 18 counties will change tiers. Below you’ll find brief explanations for each county’s tier, which come directly from the Department of Commerce’s memo about the upcoming changes.

Alexander County

For 2025, Alexander County is shifting from Tier Two to Tier One. The county’s economic distress rank weakened to #39 (from #46 in 2024). Despite the county median household income rank improving 27 positions, its unemployment rate rank declined by 23 positions, and its adjusted property tax base per capita rank declined 18 positions.

Caldwell County

For 2025, Caldwell County is shifting from Tier Two to Tier One. The county’s economic distress rank weakened to #33 (from #41 in 2024). Despite the county median household income rank improving 12 positions, its unemployment rate rank declined by 12 positions, and its population growth rank declined 7 positions.

Camden County

For 2025, Camden County is shifting from Tier Three to Tier Two. The county’s economic distress rank weakened to #79 (from #82 in 2024). Despite the county unemployment rate rank improving 27 positions, its population growth rank declined by 21 positions, and its adjusted property tax base per capita rank declined 14 positions.

Cherokee County

For 2025, Cherokee County is shifting from Tier One to Tier Two. The county’s economic distress rank improved to #46 (from #32 in 2024). The county population growth rank improved 31 positions, its adjusted property tax base per capita rank improved by 10 positions, and its median household income rank improved 9 positions. 

Chowan County

For 2025, Chowan County is shifting from Tier One to Tier Two. The county’s economic distress rank improved to #41 (from #37 in 2024). Despite the county population growth rank declining 14 positions, its adjusted property tax base per capita rank improved by 13 positions, and its median household income rank improved 10 positions.

Cleveland County

For 2025, Cleveland County is shifting from Tier Two to Tier One. The county’s economic distress rank weakened to #38 (from #43 in 2024). Despite the county adjusted property tax base per capita rank improving 9 positions, its population growth rank declined by 16 positions, and its median household income rank declined 8 positions.

Davie County

For 2025, Davie County is shifting from Tier Three to Tier Two. The county’s economic distress rank weakened to #74 (from #81 in 2024). The main factor in Davie’s shift to Tier Two is a 13 position drop in median household income rank.

Duplin County

For 2025, Duplin County is shifting from Tier One to Tier Two. The county’s economic distress rank improved to #41 (from #29 in 2024). The county population growth rank improved 19 positions, and its unemployment rate rank improved by 18 positions.

Gates County

For 2025, Gates County is shifting from Tier One to Tier Two. The county’s economic distress rank improved to #48 (from #38 in 2024). The county unemployment rate rank improved 14 positions, and its adjusted property tax base per capita rank improved by 8 positions.

Granville County

For 2025, Granville County is shifting from Tier Two to Tier Three. The county’s economic distress rank improved to #81 (from #73 in 2024). The county adjusted property tax base per capita rank improved 14 positions, and its median household income rank improved by 8 positions.

Haywood County

For 2025, Haywood County is shifting from Tier Two to Tier Three. The county’s economic distress rank improved to #83 (from #78 in 2024). Despite the county unemployment rate rank declining 13 positions, its median household income rank improved by 21 positions.

Jones County

For 2025, Jones County is shifting from Tier One to Tier Two. The county’s economic distress rank improved to #58 (from #33 in 2024). The county unemployment rate rank improved 25 positions, its population growth rank improved by 20 positions, and its median household income rank improved by 17 positions.

McDowell County

For 2025, McDowell County is shifting from Tier Two to Tier One. The county’s economic distress rank weakened to #31 (from #47 in 2024). The county adjusted property tax base per capita rank declined 16 positions, and its unemployment rate rank declined by 9 positions.

Montgomery County

For 2025, Montgomery County is shifting from Tier Two to Tier One. The county’s economic distress rank weakened to #40 (from #47 in 2024). The main factor in the county’s shift to Tier One is a 10 position drop in median household income rank.

Onslow County

For 2025, Onslow County is shifting from Tier One to Tier Two. The county’s economic distress rank improved to #47 (from #38 in 2024). The main factor in the county’s shift to Tier Two is a 16 position improvement in adjusted property tax base per capita rank.

Pasquotank County

For 2025, Pasquotank County is shifting from Tier One to Tier Two. The county’s economic distress rank improved to #41 (from #31 in 2024). The county adjusted property tax base per capita rank improved 14 positions, its unemployment rate rank improved by 13 positions, and its median household income rank improved by 11 positions.

Randolph County

For 2025, Randolph County is shifting from Tier Two to Tier One. The county’s economic distress rank weakened to #29 (from #44 in 2024). The county median household income rank declined 14 positions, and its adjusted property tax base per capita rank declined by 11 positions.

Surry County

For 2025, Surry County is shifting from Tier Two to Tier One. The county’s economic distress rank weakened to #34 (from #45 in 2024). The main factor in the county’s shift to Tier One is a 30 position drop in median household income rank.