Jefferson County, Florida

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Elevated poverty: At 21%, the rate is in economically distressed territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).
• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 16.5 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 48 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting employs 368 workers (23% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $47,756.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $441M (2024).
• Wage stratification: Utilities averages $129,439 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $23,627, a 5.5x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Animal Production and Aquaculture concentrates at 15.79x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• Cluster depth: 8 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.

• In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.8x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 75.9% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 16.5% vacancy rate. In resort, rural, and seasonal markets much of this is recreational/seasonal (second homes), not available supply; confirm the vacancy-by-reason split before treating it as a redevelopment opportunity.
• Affordable rent tiers: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,530/mo).

• Succession risk is real: 26.2% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 55% labor force participation suggests untapped capacity; workforce development programs may unlock supply.
• Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 56,676 annual credentials.

Jefferson County shows strong potential for animal production and aquaculture attraction, with a 15.79x concentration and 81 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 26.2% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across animal production and aquaculture, crop production, and private households creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.