The National FabricC · Rural Combustibles
C3C
Meth-Adjacent Acreage
Three generations, two functioning vehicles, one tarp roof, and a good year coming.
Reference marketFirst identified in Union, West Virginia (ZIP area 24983).
Also found inPaintsville, Kentucky; Heber Springs, Arkansas; Owensville, Missouri; Gallipolis, Ohio.
The American dream after the copper wiring is gone.
Portrait
In their own words
- Age38
- Income$31K
- Net worth-$5K
- Education6%
- Home$90K
- Ownership64%
- HouseholdMultigenerational, chaotic
- VehicleCavalier on a donut
- DebtTo a guy named Donnie
- Vice
- Scratch-offs and recreational bad decisions
- Most likely to
- Explain that the county inspector is targeting them
- Signals
- Scrap metal, pawn shops, court dates
Who they are
Three generations under one tarp roof, two functioning vehicles between them, and a good year that has been coming since 2009. The retirement strategy is scratch-offs, purchased with the consistency of a 401(k) contribution and the returns of a house fire. The Cavalier rides on a donut spare that has quietly become load-bearing infrastructure. Net worth is negative, owed partly to the county and partly to a man named Donnie whose interest rate is enforced rather than disclosed. He will explain, at length, that the inspector is targeting the family specifically. The plan is, and has always been, that something is about to hit.
Our neighborhood
Unincorporated acreage where the driveway is longer than the credit history and the mailbox holds mostly final notices. Scrap metal appreciates faster than the land. The pawn shop is the bank, the gas station is the grocery, and the courthouse is a recurring calendar event. A fresh tarp counts as a renovation. Everyone is owed money and nobody is paying.
Shopping
The pawn shop is the bank and the gas station is the grocery, so the basket is scratch-offs, cigarettes, and whatever the tarp aisle stocked this week. A fresh tarp counts as a renovation and gets mentioned to neighbors. Scrap metal on the property appreciates faster than the land beneath it.
Spending
Net worth is negative, owed partly to the county and partly to a man named Donnie whose interest rate is enforced rather than disclosed. Scratch-offs get purchased with the consistency of a 401(k) contribution and the returns of a house fire. The Cavalier rides on a donut spare that has quietly become load-bearing infrastructure.
Media
Broadcast TV through an antenna, a police scanner, and a feed of county-court screenshots. He will explain at length that the inspector is targeting this family specifically. The mail is final notices and one jury summons.
Interests
Waiting on the good year that has been coming since 2009. Three generations under one tarp roof, two functioning vehicles between them, and a courthouse date recurring like a subscription. Everyone is owed money and nobody is paying.
Where they live
Darker is more of them.
C3 · METH-ADJACENT ACREAGE
ZIP CODES
—
How thick on the ground
$67K
Median household income
0.93× the national median
$270K
Typical home value
1.01× the national median
4.0×
Home value against income
1.06× the national median
22%
Bachelor's degree or higher
0.94× the national median
78%
Owner-occupied
Share of occupied units
$1,111
Median gross rent
Monthly, contract plus utilities
2.49
Average household size
Persons per occupied unit
43.2
Median age
Years
How they compare
Against the average American household.
Median household income
0.93×
$67K here$72K everywhere else
Typical home value
1.01×
$270K here$268K everywhere else
Bachelor's degree or higher
0.94×
21.9% here23.3% everywhere else
Home value against household income
1.06×
4.00× here3.77× everywhere else
Who lives next door
Household types that turn up on the same blocks.
C4Dollar General DynastyThe nearest grocery is 40 minutes; the DG is town square, pharmacy, and social club.
L4Flyover TerritoryFour people per square kilometre, eighty-two per cent ownership, and a contrail belonging to someone who has an opinion about them.
L5Rust & ReclinerA paid-off house in a town whose largest employer is now the hospital that treats the people the last employer injured.
K4Fentanyl BeltDeindustrialized towns where the plant left, the pills arrived, and the fentanyl finished the invoice.
G2Scratch-Off SustenanceThe lottery is a regressive tax and the only retirement plan on offer.
C1Ciggies & Side-by-SidesDip in the lip, Polaris in the yard, a koozie for every occasion.
The receipts
- 01Commutes by transit31st0.2%
- 02Below the poverty line62nd14.7%
- 03Not in the labor force61st43.7%
- 04Households with a vehicle42nd94.6%
- 05Bachelor's degree or higher43rd21.9%
- 06Single-family detached46th73.7%
- 07Owner-occupied48th77.6%
- 08Median age51st43.2 yrs
- 09Enrolled in college51st4.0%
- 10Foreign-born residents49th3.9%
SourcesFigures from the U.S. Census Bureau. Everything else is observation.