Fayette County, Illinois

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Elevated poverty: At 15.5%, 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 18.5 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 42 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Retail Trade employs 746 workers (26.5% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $33,169.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $770M (2024).
• Wage stratification: Wholesale Trade averages $57,537 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $21,346, a 2.7x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Support Activities for Mining concentrates at 4.73x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.

• Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 2.1x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
• High home ownership: 80.6% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 11.3% 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 (~$1,524/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.

• Succession risk is real: 22.4% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 56.2% 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 37,237 annual credentials.

Fayette County shows meaningful potential for support activities for mining attraction, with a 4.73x concentration and 40 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 22.4% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

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