Tama County, Iowa

• Elevated poverty: At 14.8%, 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 15.2 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: Manufacturing employs 1,059 workers (39.5% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $57,440.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $848M (2024).
• Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $71,728 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $20,600, a 3.5x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers concentrates at 4.94x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 7 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
• Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.

• 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: 76% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 11.5% 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.
• Broadly affordable rents: All 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,770/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.

• Succession risk is real: 26% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 21,768 annual credentials.

Tama County shows meaningful potential for gasoline stations and fuel dealers attraction, with a 4.94x concentration and 179 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 26% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across gasoline stations and fuel dealers, crop production, and merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.