The relationship between disability and class is apparent in the region of Appalachia as lower income areas tend to have higher rates of people with disability or people receiving disability benefits. In the Appalachian Region’s distressed counties, 13.6 percent of residents receive disability benefits, compared to 6.9 percent living in the Region’s non-distressed counties.

The two maps below show the correlation between disability and poverty in the Appalachian region. The first map shows the percentage households below the poverty line, while the second map shows the percentage of residents receiving disability benefits. As you can see, regions that are darker in figure 1 (with higher percentages of households below the poverty line) are also darker in figure 2 (percentage of citizens receiving disability benefits).

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