I can’t imagine why the wealth of your county or your personal wealth matter at all for this. The auto admit isn’t measuring wealth. It is measuring a student’s achievements…and really that matters. And yes, there are counties in your state where students who might have been denied otherwise will now have an auto admit.
This has been the way things have been done in Texas for a very long time and they don’t have any issues reportedly with students at UT Austin who are auto admit achieving in college.
This is giving a good chance for admission to any student in your state who can meet the bar for this auto admission. I say…good for Tennessee for doing this.