Quality of Rural and Urban Housing in the Appalachian Region

Excerpts from the report Summary: Housing in the Appalachian Region is generally inferior to housing in the surrounding area and is below the U. S. average, according to criteria on which this report is based. Housing condition (sound, deteriorating, and dilapidated) and plumbing facilities were used in comparisons. Evaluations were based only on analyses of these criteria. Part of the general disparity in Appalachian housing results from the Region's relatively high percentage of rural housing, in comparisons with the U. S. average. However, in each housing category analyzed—urban, rural nonfarm, and farm— Appalachian housing is below the average for the United States. Housing quality is generally highest in the northern part of the Region. It declines toward the center, then improves further south. An exception to this improvement in the southern part is housing in the Alabama segment of the Region, particularly rural housing. Eastern segments of the Appalachian area tend to have higher quality housing than western segments.