Pulaski 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 25%, 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 22.7 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: Retail Trade employs 86 workers (29.2% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $31,776.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $223M (2024).
• Wage stratification: Transportation and Warehousing averages $65,571 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $13,896, a 4.7x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional Orgs concentrates at 2.77x the national norm.
• Cluster depth: 4 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 2.0x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
• Elevated vacancy: 32% 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 (~$1,062/mo).

• Succession risk is real: 24.7% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 42.8% 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.

Pulaski County shows emerging potential for religious, grantmaking, civic, professional orgs attraction, with a 2.77x concentration and 31 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 24.7% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across religious, grantmaking, civic, professional orgs, repair and maintenance, and gasoline stations and fuel dealers creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.