Rutherford County, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state, is a Tier 1 county, which has access to the highest incentives for attracting new businesses.

A Tier 1 county is considered the most economically distressed and can offer a $12,500 tax credit per new job with a requirement to create at least five jobs, and a 7 percent tax credit for eligible business property expenditures.

A Tier 3 county, which is considered to have the most favorable economic conditions, can only offer a $750 tax credit per new job with a requirement to create at least 15 jobs, and a 3.5 percent tax credit for eligible business property expenditures of more than $2 million.

In the 2009 rankings the state commerce department lists 41 counties as Tier 1, 39 as Tier 2 and 20 as Tier 3.

The commerce department annually ranks the state&squo;s 100 counties based on economic well being. The tier systems is used in various state programs.