Cass County, Michigan

• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 13.9 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 46 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Manufacturing employs 2,031 workers (32.9% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $61,475.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1.9B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $100,363 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $19,482, a 5.2x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Wood Product Manufacturing concentrates at 20.67x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• Cluster depth: 10 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.

• In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.1x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 81.6% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 17.4% 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 (~$1,761/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.

• Succession risk is real: 26.8% 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 35,780 annual credentials.

Cass County shows strong potential for wood product manufacturing attraction, with a 20.67x concentration and 511 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 26.8% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across wood product manufacturing, plastics and rubber products manufacturing, and animal production and aquaculture creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.