The Three Wests: How does your county compare to other western counties?
Research shows there are three distinctly different types of counties in the West, defined by their access to major markets and population centers.
This web-based interactive tool will help community leaders make better decisions in several important ways:
- Learn more about what type of county you live in.
- Compare your county to a similar county or counties.
- Create a detailed county socioeconomic profile.
Headwaters Economics has written a technical paper, The Three Wests: A New County Typology Based on Transportation (500K .pdf), where the concept of the Three Wests is tested statistically. The paper was published in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of Rural Studies.
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| Metropolitan | Connected | Isolated |
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Counties within a metropolitan statistical area, and neighboring counties within easy commuting distance to the city. |
Counties in a rural setting, but connected to the rest of the world via airports with daily commercial service. |
Counties in a rural setting, but isolated, where it is difficult to get to major population centers via road or air travel. |
Map of the Three Wests
Click on map to zoom in to see more details.
Download High Resolution Map (1.8 Meg .jpg)
Characteristics that set the three Wests apart:
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| Metropolitan | Connected | Isolated |
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More young people |
Neither young or old |
More old people |
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Fast population growth |
Slow in the 1980s, faster tin the 1990s, 2000s |
Slow population growth |
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Fast income and job growth |
The closer to the airport, the higher the per capita income, earnings per job |
Slow income and job growth |
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More educated |
Tend toward more educated |
Less educated |
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Low dependence on retirement and other non-labor sources |
Medium dependence on non-labor income |
High dependence on retirement and other non-labor sources |
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High employment in services and manufacturing |
A shift, from agriculture and resource industries in the 1980s, to higher emphasis on services in 1990s, 2000s |
High employment in agriculture and resource industries |
How else are they different?
Click here to download detailed, 45-page socioeconomic profiles that show each of these categories, in aggregate:
Information Specific to Your County
Next, proceed to the next page to select a county to see how it fits into these classes.
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