Crawford County, Illinois

• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 15.1 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 43 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Manufacturing employs 2,030 workers (41.7% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $105,955.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1.7B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Manufacturing averages $105,955 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $17,126, a 6.2x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Support Activities for Mining concentrates at 4.37x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 5 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
• Attraction whitespace: 5 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.

• Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 1.7x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
• High home ownership: 81.9% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 11.4% 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.
• Broadly affordable rents: All 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,792/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.

• Succession risk is real: 23.3% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 57.4% labor force participation suggests untapped capacity; workforce development programs may unlock supply.
• Short commutes: 18.1-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
• Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 37,237 annual credentials.

Crawford County shows meaningful potential for support activities for mining attraction, with a 4.37x concentration and 57 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 23.3% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across support activities for mining, , and general merchandise retailers creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.