Meade County, Kentucky

• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 15.7 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.

• Largest sector: Manufacturing employs 912 workers (25.6% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $130,472.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Manufacturing averages $130,472 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $21,653, a 6.0x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Specialty Trade Contractors concentrates at 4.18x 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: 7 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.

• Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 2.8x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
• High home ownership: 74.1% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 10.1% 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 (~$1,859/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.
• Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 21,597 annual credentials.

Meade County shows meaningful potential for specialty trade contractors attraction, with a 4.18x concentration and 750 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 specialty trade contractors, motor vehicle and parts dealers, and creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.