Evangeline Parish, Louisiana

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Elevated poverty: At 24.3%, 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 22.0 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.

• Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 2,350 workers (39.6% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $38,661.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1.2B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Manufacturing averages $77,623 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $13,101, a 5.9x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Utilities concentrates at 3.16x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 9 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.

• In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.0x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• Elevated vacancy: 13.8% 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 (~$1,048/mo).

• Succession risk is real: 22.2% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 54.5% 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 16,131 annual credentials.

Evangeline Parish shows meaningful potential for utilities attraction, with a 3.16x concentration and 98 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 22.2% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across utilities, gasoline stations and fuel dealers, and nursing and residential care facilities creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.