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Human development indicators show that the county has 57 percent of residents live below the poverty line compared to the national poverty level of 46 percent. The levels of poverty in the county are geographically distributed. At the Escarpment and The Kerio Valley, poverty levels are as high as 67 percent of the population while in the Highlands poverty levels average 47 percent.  

The county’s economy and livelihood is driven by agriculture which is depended upon by over 76 percent of county’s rural population. Crop farming, livestock production and fisheries whose optimum harnessing could lead to enhanced food security, employment creation, related sectors’ development and natural resource conservation, are the sub-sectors under agriculture. More than 80 percent of the county’s income is from agro-based economic activities. This income status effectively requires a well-managed and reliable physical infrastructure that supports and sustains progressive and efficient output optimization. The county currently has a total road network of 1,579.4 km of which 152 km (9.6 percent) is Bitumen (tarmac), 996.2 km is gravel surface (63.1 percent) and 431.2 km is earth (27.3 percent). The county has 2 Airstrips; Tot and Chepsirei, though these airstrips have not been utilized optimally coupled with irregular maintenance.

Electricity coverage in the county averages 6% of households with the main source of energy for cooking being firewood thus exacerbating the already existing environmental degradation. There is low electricity coverage and other renewable energy like hydro, solar, wind and biogas has been minimally tapped. On ICT, the required infrastructure is poorly developed with no single fiber cable linking the county other parts of the country.